Spiritual Fox
by TsukasaTheFominian
Summary: While running from an angry mob on his birthday, seven-year-old Naruto finds himself in a strange land where a shinobi turned priest offers to train him as a ninja. Not super Naruto
1. Chapter 1

**Disclamer:** I don't own Naruto nor any characters or abilities created by Masashi Kishimoto. Original characters, abilities and bloodlines in this story (there will be) are mine. If someone out there thinks an ability or character of mine is cool and wishes to use it, feel free. I only ask that you give me credit.

**Date:** 4/24/08

**Summary:** While running from an angry mob on his birthday, seven-year-old Naruto finds himself in a strange land where a shinobi turned priest offers to train him as a ninja. Naruto eventually discovers there is more to the world then just shinobi when he unlocks his spiritual power. Not a super Naruto fic (I hate those ones) but more of a smart and wise naruto fic.

Spiritual Fox  
Chapter 1: A Beginnning

It was a beautiful festival day, and the inhabitants of Konoha were enjoying every minuet of it. It marked the seventh year since their leader, the Fourth Hokage, had sacrificed himself to save the entire village from the nine-tailed demon fox Kyubi. By sealing the demon into a newborn child, he had ensured the entire world would be safe from the vicious creature. Their savior had hoped his people would see the sacrificed boy as a hero, but he had forgotten an important and dark part of humanity.

People had trouble letting go. Many held their pain close to their hearts so they didn't forget the loved ones they lost. It was easy for people to hate then to accept their losses; easier to hate the demon who had caused the destruction an death. And it was the easiest thing in the world for the people to see the Jinchuriki as the demon itself, giving them a tangible and weak being to not only hate, but attack. Laws had been put into place to protect the child, but there were some days the laws were ignored even by the police force. Days like the Kyubi festival when the adults remembered being attacked the best. It never took more then a couple of drinks before someone suggested a demon hunt. In truth, it wouldn't have taken any drinks but the men were smart enough to have a plausible alibi. Which brings us to the current situation: A young seven-year old boy with messy blond hair wearing an orange jumpsuit running from a mob of ten or so men. All half drunk, all wearing tattered cloths, all childishly blaming the demon for their current life.

Naruto was running as fast as he could, he had to in order to avoid being beaten by those drunks. Being chased half his life had made him as fast as a grown adult, but those adults had some ninja mixed into the group so he know he'd be caught if he didn't do something quick. The one advantage he had was his knowledge of the streets was better then most of the adults chasing him. He'd never get caught in a dead end so the chase would be over when they or Naruto got too tired to run.

_Just wait till I become Hokage, _the blond thought. _Then they'll have to respect me. Just another year, then I'll be in the academy. I'll learn all the jutsus I can and take the title from the old man. _The mob seemed to be gaining some distance so Naruto had to increase his speed slightly. _Once I become a ninja I'll be skilled enough so these chases won't happen._

This of course didn't help the current situation of having a mob chasing him. A mob that was somehow catching up. _I never did get my breakfast. These bastards started chasing me before I could get to the ramen stand. Ojii-san gave me extra ramen coupons today too. I have to lose these clowns somehow, then get to my ramen._ The hyper blond knew there was a few places to hid just around the corner so he sped up slightly. However, when he rounded the corner he didn't expect to run into… fog of all things. A fog so thick he could barely see his hand in front of his face.

It wasn't steam because it didn't hurt him at all. Naruto had stopped to wonder for a moment, but remembered the mob was chasing him. Even if that group couldn't see through the fog, they'd still run into him if he stayed in one place. The boy started walking while wondering what was going on. _Is this some jutsu? It was too warm out for this to be natural._ Only a few moments passed until Naruto figured something else out. _I can't hear anything. Sure, the area hadn't been too loud or crowded but it wasn't silent like this fog. What was that one type of jutsu called? Oh ya, genjutsu; the one that makes people see and hear things. One of the ninjas could have used one on me, but they've never done that before so why now?_

After a few moments the scruffy blond finally walked out of the mist and found himself at the edge of a forest. Said forest was huge, and seemed to be on a small mountain. A sphere of fog seemed to enclose the whole area, or at least the area Naruto could see. The child simply looked around, brought his hand to his mouth, and bit his thumb as hard as he could. When he felt pain, he decided he wasn't experiencing some dream or jutsu. That, however, left him with more questions then answers. Granted, he had run through some fog, but he hadn't been on the village border. _And I didn't go over one of the walls so this couldn't be outside the village either. Besides, the only mountain around here is the Hokage monument and there aren't any trees covering that._

Naruto didn't know where he was, but his curiosity got the better of him and he went investigating to figure out his location. His options were limited in that the only place he had to go was into the forest, but he did find one good sign; a path which led inwards. The blond wasn't the smartest kid in the world, but he knew that if there was a path then there had to be people somewhere too. True, not all people were nice, but he was willing to risk it to find out just where he was.

The pre-ninja started on the path, but soon found something disturbing; the forest was silent. Naruto had been into the forests around Konoha and he knew what a forest should sound like. _Where are the birds, the insects, and the animals? There are trees growing and flowers blooming, there should be dozens of sounds. Why can I only hear the sound of my own footsteps?_ Naruto walked for about five minutes, the scene never changing too much. He tried not to let it show but the forest was making him nervous. There weren't many people who wouldn't be disturbed by a place so completely unnatural. Just as Naruto was about to turn back the path began to incline and he came upon a set of stairs. Said stairs were lined with statues of animals, one about every five steps making a total of six statues for the thirty steps.

The top of the steps lead to an open space containing the strangest building Naruto had ever seen. It was an old fashioned, tall, one story structure raised off the ground, complete with an archway before the entrance and sliding doors. The path to the building split off and went around the structure both ways, leading to smaller but still ornate storage rooms. Naruto walked about halfway to the building when the door opened and out stepped a man. He looked to be about 30ish, 5 foot 11 with chestnut brown hair and green eyes. His build was average but the blond boy could tell the man was well muscled and carried himself like a fighter. Dressed in white robes, he was studying Naruto with curiosity in his eyes. It felt strange for the boy, he was used to being looked at with anger or hate.

This man just seemed to find him interesting as he gave Naruto a kind smile and said, "What an unusual guest to have. Welcome young one, to my forest temple."

Naruto just guessed he didn't have many kids drop by, making him unusual. The other stuff, however, was even less revealing. "What's a temple, and where am I exactly?"

"Good questions, but we seem to have overlooked some details. My name is Yoshi Ichihara **(1)**." He proceeded to give Naruto a small bow, and looked at the boy gently.

The man Yoshi didn't seem to bear any ill intent to Naruto, not that he could feel anyways. So he decided the truth wouldn't hurt too much. "Naruto Uzumaki from Konohagakure."

"A Konoha resident huh? May I call you Naruto" In truth, Naruto wasn't used to addressed so kindly but it was better then Demon Brat, so he nodded. "You may call me Yoshi if you'd like." He stepped to the side and opened the door more. "I'm currently making some tea if you'd like to sit and relax while we talk."

Naruto entered with little hesitation. He'd grown accustomed to sensing danger, and didn't feel any from Yoshi or the temple. As he entered he found himself in a hallway which seemed old fashioned like the outside, a few of sliding doors, pictures on the walls, and a table with a potted plant on it. The man opened the first door on the right and led Naruto into a sitting room with more artwork on the walls and a low table. A window opened to the front yard area Naruto had just left. The room also opened up into a kitchen, which seemed to be more modern then the rest of the building. "Wait here while I get the tea."

While waiting, Naruto couldn't help but relax. The forest had unnerved him, but this place felt safe and secure. It was really nice to unwind outside of his apartment, not having to worry about attacks. When Yoshi returned with the tea, Naruto's body showed his relaxed state. He was even smiling slightly. As the brunet man pored their drinks, be began talking.

"Well Naruto-kun, I believe your first question was about temples." Naruto nodded, glad to be getting some answers as well. "The easiest explanation is that it's a place of worship. Monks and Priests are usually heads of temples and shrines, leading followers in worship, performing exorcisms and other tasks. Your second question was where you were. I assume you're referring to where this forest in general is, correct?"

"Yes sir." Naruto was bouncing up and down, barely able to contain his excitement. Where ever he was, it wasn't normal or natural.

"Good question, but I don't know myself." Yoshi gave a mischievous smile as he watched Naruto fall on his back. Granted, he hadn't lied, but it was still fun to watch peoples reactions and he thought Naruto would be fairly comical. He wasn't disappointed.

The blond got up quickly and yelled, "How the hell could you not know something like that! You live here don't you?!" The pre-genin was pissed. He figured the brunet was just lying to him just for his own amusement. Naruto didn't seem to realize he was giving the man exactly what he wanted.

Yoshi let his smile drop slightly and looked at the boy. "Yes Naruto, I do live here. But you too are in this place. You entered this place, I assume, by walking through a thick fog that suddenly appeared?" Naruto nodded. "When I first came to this place, it was in the same manner. I stayed here for a week then left, but I found I could return here. Anywhere I was, if I wanted to return I would find myself walking through a fog which lead to the trail." Yoshi stopped to take a sip of his tea, then continued. "I searched for the true location of this place for a time, but I could never find a clue. No tales about a dome of fog, no strange forest mountains. Not even sailors could tell me about an island trapped in fog. The only records I've found were stories of people who, like you and I, found themselves walking through fog which eventually emerged here." He stopped and looked out the window. "It is a place which is everywhere, yet nowhere. A place that is impossible to find if one tries to look for it."

Naruto had been listening, but still, "I don't get it at all."

While smiling at the young boy, the priest said, "That's ok." The blond still seemed agitated, so Yoshi added, "it's a hard concept for an adult to grasp, I wouldn't expect a child to understand. However, even if you don't understand this place, it doesn't change the fact that it exists. What is, is. That's all there is to it."

_I think I get that much._ Naruto thought. _I don't understand why people seem to hate me so much, but that doesn't stop them from hating me._

"Understanding doesn't changed reality, but it can help people accept reality, right?" Naruto wanted to know if he'd gotten that part of the conversation right.

The older man showed Naruto a joyful smile and continued. "In most cases, yes." Yoshi's look became more inquisitive and he asked, "Would you like to tell me how you got here?"

"What do you mean, you already know how. Through the fog." The blond was annoyed by the repetitive question.

Yoshi just gave a blank look, then smiled and shook his head at himself while clarifying. "Forgive me, I meant, did you want to discuss the events leading up to the fog?" Naruto just gave the brunet a look, prompting the man to continue. "People don't come to this place under the best of conditions. This mystic mountain is more of an escape then anything else. When people enter here they're usually in danger or just usually need to escape from something."

Unable to help himself, Naruto asked, "If that's the only condition to come here, wouldn't more people show up?" The boy couldn't help but remember all the times when he'd been chased and beaten, but had never entered this place.

"I never said that was the **only** condition necessary, just one of them." Yoshi's expression saddened considerable and continued. "There seem to be many variables, the will of the traveler, and the actions of the traveler to named a couple. An example being if someone is in a life or death fight and does not wish to leave said fight, then they will not enter. Another example being if someone instigates a fight then tries to back out, they will not find themselves in this place. What it truly seems to boil down to is that if someone is suppose to be here, then they'll enter this place."

Naruto gained a sour expression and began to say, "I don't get it at all." However, he stopped himself and squinted at Yoshi. "This is another one of those 'What is, is. That's all there is to it' thing, isn't it?"

The priest seemed to be happy with that statement. "You're catching on quickly. Life is full of those things. It can get annoying, but its true. So back to the original question. What happened that caused you to find this place?" Naruto started to look uncomfortable so Yoshi added, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want, but its good to get stuff like that off your chest sometimes."

Naruto thought for a minute but only answered, "Nothing really unusual. I was being chased by a group of half drunk idiots trying to beat me up."

Yoshi and Naruto simply looked at each other. The man could only think, _His life must not be very stable if he can talk so casually about being beaten._

The boy's expression brightened as he added, "But once I'm Hokage everything will be different. I'll be the strongest in the village so no one can hurt me, and I'll have a name that everyone will respect."

Naruto may have been smiling, but Yoshi wasn't fooled. He could tell how sad and angry the child in front of him was. "Naruto, if you don't like being in the village, why don't you just leave?" It was an important question since the answer would greatly effect the decision of the priest.

"What do you mean?" The thought had apparently never occurred to Naruto.

Yoshi sighed. "The people of Konoha seem to unjustly hate you, so why do you stay? It would be far easier to just move to a different city and earn respect from strangers then to stay in Konoha and work against their hate." Yoshi could tell what Naruto was. It was clear as day to one who could see spirits and exorcize demons.

Naruto's answer was quick and filled with conviction. "That would be the same as running away! I'd never be that much of a coward. It won't be easy, but I'll show everyone just who I am. I'll become Hokage and gain everyone's respect if it's the last thing I do!"

The boy's attitude made Yoshi smile. _Everything about him screams confidence. His eyes, his body, his soul; he'll give everything he's got to try and compete his goal._

"Those are some big plans, especially for someone so young to have. It doesn't seem like you'll give up on your goal, so why don't I help you."

Naruto just squinted, folded his arms and asked, "What do you mean help?"

Yoshi was worried that his initial assessment of the boy's intelligence had been off, but that ebbed as he watched the emotions play across Naruto's aura. _Surprise, hope, happiness, and most of all suspicion. He's probably had others offer to help him in the past but ended up being betrayed._ "I mean that if you want, I can train you in the shinobi ways." Naruto eyed Yoshi's clothing so the man elaborated. "Despite my current profession, I was originally a ninja. Events in my life left me with questions the shinobi way couldn't answer, so I became a priest instead. However, I still practice my jutsus regularly and still quite skilled. Though you seem too young to take part in any extreme forms of training, there are still ways to train and become stronger."

The Jinchuriki looked at the strange man in front of him. _He said that priests lived in temples, so if this place is a temple like he said then he must be a priest or Monk. I don't know what they do, but he does move like a shinobi so maybe he can help._ "How long would you train me?"

Yoshi studied the boy before asking, "How old are you?"

"Seven today, sir."

"Seven huh?" The former ninja thought for a moment then said, "Four years." Naruto thought Yoshi must have been joking until he continued. "I will train you for four years. After that, you'll return to Konoha and spend a year at the ninja academy for formality's sake and then be become a genin of Konohagakure."

Naruto didn't know what to say. He rarely met someone who would be kind to him, yet here was a man who was not only kind but was willing to help him achieve his goals. The blond was happy, but still had reservations. "Why are you so willing to help me? You don't have anything to gain by it, and we only just met. How can you just help someone you only met by accident?"

With a sly smile Yoshi replied, "Because we didn't meet by accident. A wise woman, the priestess who trained me, once said 'There is no such thing as coincidence in this world, there is only Hitsuzen **(2)**. All events in life have meaning, even if you yourself do not remember the event it still doesn't change the meaning behind it.'"

Naruto felt something as Yoshi looked into his eyes, like he was being looked through. Like the priest could see everything about Naruto. "Your coming here was not mere coincidence Naruto, nor was our meeting. There is a meaning behind your arrival and also to our meeting. No event in one's life is meaningless.

"I am simply offering you a choice Naruto, you may be young but one eventually must learn to make his own choices and accept the consequences of those choices. I can tell you that I will not be a cruel teacher, but my training will not be easy or pleasant. You will be pushed to your limits, then past those limits. It will be hard, painful, and rewarding."

Yoshi got up from the table and continued. "There is no need to answer now, walk around this building and the forest if you like. Time flows normally here and there is day and night too for some reason. Please think this over and tell me your decision by nightfall, in about six more hours." Night and day on the mountain seemed to be at the same time as in the Elemental Nations with slight variation in some places.

With a slight nod, he left Naruto with his half finished tea to think about the offer. Naruto did have a lot to think about too. _He's willing to teach me ninjutsu and it doesn't seem like he's out to hurt me. Ojii-san might miss me, but he'd get over it._ Naruto gulped down the rest of his tea and got up ready to explore. He found the kitchen to be more modern then the rest of the house seemed, complete with running water. The question bubble into his mind, but Naruto doubted he'd get an elaborate answer to, "How can there be running water in a place like this." The answer would probably just be "What is, is. That's all there is to it." _I get the feeling that will be the answer to a lot of questions about this place._

Further searching showed there wasn't much along the ways of modern convenience. No electricity, having an old wood stove and an old style bath. The toilet and sink had running water, but the sinks only ran with cold water. There were three bedrooms, the largest seemed to be used by Yoshi, giving Naruto the choice of room of which two smaller rooms he wanted. They both had the same minimal furnishings: a bed, desk, small closet, and an oil lamp.

The only other room in the house held what Naruto would later know to be a shrine. In front of the shrine was a small pad for one to sit or kneel before. At the time the boy didn't know what the room was for, but he could tell that it was something of importance so he wisely decided not to mess with it.

Completing the investigation of the inside of the house, he went out behind the temple to see what was inside the back sheds. Starting with the right building, he found books and scrolls. Not just a few, but hundreds. The entire room seemed to be filled with written material of all different kinds. History scrolls, books about priests, cook books, fiction novels; Naruto couldn't believe just how much was there.

Then Naruto found what he'd hoped to find, jutsu scrolls. An entire wall was dedicated to various jutsus: different forms of taijutsu, various genjutsu, ninjutsu of every element, something called elemental chakra. Sealing jutsus, doujutsu, the list just went on till Naruto began drooling. He reached out to grab a scroll labeled Ninjutsu-Wind but found he couldn't grab the item. There was a barrier of some kind which stopped Naruto two inches before the scroll. He tried grabbing other documents from the Jutsu shelf but was met with the same resistance. Curious, he went to the history self but found no resistance as he took a scroll labeled Rain Country. The same went for the other categories leaving Naruto with a clear message; no jutsu scrolls unless he stayed and trained. The boy assumed that even if he did stay and train under Yoshi that he wouldn't be given free reign over the jutsu scrolls.

Disappointed, yet at the same time hopeful, he left the library to look into the other shed and found it to be a simple food-storage shed. Anticlimactic, but it was proof that Naruto wouldn't starve to death if he stayed. Rice and beans seemed to be the main foods Yoshi had, but there were also noodles and various spices to choose from.

He finally noticed the most important thing and it made his blood run cold. There was no ramen in the storehouse, not one cup. _Four years without ramen, can I do that?_ The blond ran outside, and into the house to find Yoshi in the shrine room. He was sitting cross-legged and had his hands in his lap. Eventually Naruto would learn he was meditating but at the time the blond didn't seem to care. "Yoshi-sensei!"

The man turned around from the shrine with a concerned look. Naruto was worried, almost to the point of hyperventilating. "What is it Naruto?"

"RamentheresnoramenherehowcanIstayhereforfouryearswithnoramen?"

With a blank look on his face, Yoshi asked, "Naruto, how can I answer your questions if I can't understand it in the first place. Slow down and tell me what's wrong." The kid had definitely said something about Ramen, but beyond that he wasn't able to understand.

Naruto, for his part, tried to calm down and finally said, "Ramen. There's no ramen here. How can I stay here for four years with no ramen?"

"This is just about not having ramen?" Yoshi couldn't really believe it but it seemed to be true.

Hearing his favorite food being talked about so dismissively only made Naruto mad. "What do you mean _'just'_ about ramen? Ramen's the best thing in the world, how dare you talk about it like its nothing!"

"I suppose I could get some ramen for you if you really think you can't go without. If you're going to stay and train then I'd have to go and buy some supplies anyways." Naruto was about to jump for joy when Yoshi added, "But you won't be eating it every day. At most you'll only get ramen twice a week."

"What!? Why?!" Naruto was pissed. True, ramen twice a week was better then no ramen at all, but the boy was hoping for more.

"Ramen may taste good, but its not good for you. If you wana grow up strong then you'll need to eat a more balanced diet." Yoshi turned away from Naruto to resume his meditation but was interrupted again.

"Can I at least have it more often, like four times a week?"

"Two times only, Naruto." The priest didn't even look at the boy to answer that time.

"Three?"

"Two."

His anger rising, Naruto yelled, "Why can't we reach a compromise, damn it?"

"Because I've already compromised." The blond gave the man a questioning look so Yoshi continued, "Normally I wouldn't let you stray from a healthy diet at all. I've already given you ramen twice a week, which is more then I should be giving you. In truth, ramen will be more of a treat for you then anything else, and treats are best when eaten occasionally."

There was one other reason Yoshi why wouldn't move on his decision, the fact that he would be Naruto's sensei. If he let the boy have his way then it would mean the blond was in charge. It would be impossible to train Naruto with a system like that. That kind of attitude, that he could do whatever he wanted, would only lead to ruin, especially for a shinobi. Ninjas needed to follow orders, not go off and do whatever they wanted. There were a few situations where disobeying orders was acceptable, life and death situations, but that had nothing to do with ramen, despite what the blond thought.

Naruto was running the positive side of the situation over in his mind. _Training, jutsus, private tutor, and four years beating free. I guess ramen only twice a week isn't too bad._ "So, when do I start training sensei?"

Smiling, Yoshi replied, "Tomorrow Naruto. I need to get some supplies first, such as weapons and gear."

The Jinchurichi was trembling with excitement. He threw one fist in the air and yelled, "Just wait Konoha! I'll become supper strong then I'll show everyone what I can do." The priest proceeded to get up and knock Naruto upside the head. "Oww, what was that for, damn it?"

"Lesson one, brat. Ninjas are beings of secrecy, they do not go around showing off what they can do."

Yoshi's punch wasn't enough to seriously hurt Naruto, but it did cause a fair amount of pain. _I get a feeling that he'll use my head as a punching bag a lot over the next few years. _"I thought lessons didn't start until tomorrow."

The man didn't hit Naruto this time, but simply said, "Lesson two, all things change. From people to jutsus to the world itself, everything is constantly changing. Plans are good to have, but they have to be flexible or they'll just be used to work against you."

The blond hadn't seemed to understand or accept what his sensei had told him, causing Yoshi to frown and think, _If I teach this kid nothing else, it'll be that a ninja who's a showoff quickly becomes a dead shinobi._**(3)**

**A/N:** All right, first chapter is done. If I didn't make it clear, Yoshi is styled after a shinto priest, not western.

**(1) **No, Yoshi is not related to Yuko of xxxHolic. There are many things in this story which I will base off Clamp's xxxHolic because I wish this story to be unique. I find ideas from xxxHolic to be deep and unique, so here we are. In addition, I just liked the name.  
**(2)** Yoshi's sensei was not Yuko, I'm just using the idea. Hitsuzen is a concept used by Clamp in Cardcaptor Sakura, Tsubasa, and most notably xxxHolic. According to Wikipedia and my own understanding from reading xxxHolic, Hitsuzen is not the same as fate. According to Wiki, "In the context of the story, 'fate' is implied as something that is immutable and definite, giving the idea that whoever is bound by fate is nothing more than its puppet. Instead, _hitsuzen_ is the idea that an action is inevitable because without it, other related events in the future could not happen. Therefore all decisions and actions are related, and there can be no coincidence, only _hitsuzen_." My understanding of Hitsuzen, and the way I'm using it in the story, is that all events in ones life have meaning. Unlike with fate or destiny, one has the ability to choose their own path but whatever choice they make the events which will unfold will have meaning behind them.  
**(3)** This is my personal belief for why Naruto sucks in the first half of the story. He's always so busy trying to get people to notice and respect him that he can never get his act together. If he wasn't so focased on being impressive and noticed, he'd be great.

Slight spoiler, Naruto will eventually gain spiritual powers such as the power to see ghosts and peoples Auras.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclamer:** I don't own Naruto nor any characters or abilities created by Masashi Kishimoto. Original characters, abilities and bloodlines in this story (there will be) are mine. If someone out there thinks an ability or character of mine is cool and wishes to use it, feel free. I only ask that you give me credit.

**Date:** 05/01/08

**Summary:** While running from an angry mob on his birthday, seven-year-old Naruto finds himself in a strange land where a shinobi turned priest offers to train him as a ninja. Naruto eventually discovers there is more to the world then just shinobi when he unlocks his spiritual power. Not a super Naruto fic (I hate those ones) but more of a smart and wise naruto fic.

Spiritual Fox  
Chapter 2: Training and a Test

To say Sarutobi was upset was an understatement. The festival may have gone off without incident, no major attacks to speak of, and the ANBU he'd assigned to watch over Naruto hadn't need to save the boy. The last part, of course, was the reason for the Hokage's concern; the boy had disappeared without a trace.

It was after nightfall and the old man was sitting and thinking in his office, but he couldn't make heads or tails of what had happened. _I trust the ANBU I assigned to watch over Naruto, he would have ensured Naruto's safety without the boy's awareness. He wouldn't lie to me either, but I don't know what to make of this report._ Rereading the report wasn't helpful, but Sarutobi didn't know what else to do.

The ANBU had been following behind Naruto on the rooftops while he was being chased. He hadn't interfered since Naruto seemed able to outrun the mob, he was assigned to only watch over the boy until he got in over his head. All acceptable for Sarutobi, but the next part was the troubling section. Naruto had run around a corner and vanished into thin air, there was no other explanation. The ANBU, both in his report and speaking to the Hokage directly, said he had looked for the boy but couldn't find a trace of him. Naruto's trail just ended after he rounded the corner. Other ANBU had reported the same thing when sent to investigate. It didn't make any sense, Naruto was just a child. A child who hadn't had any shinobi training at all. This left Sarutobi with the most important question of all, how could a child with no ninja training give an ANBU the slip?

A knock on the door interrupted the old man's thoughts. A Jonin entered and stated, "Sir, there is a man here who says he has information about Naruto. Shall I send him in?"

Given the current situation, Sarutobi was willing to take any info he could find. "Yes, send him in please."

The Jonin gave a quick bow, then exited. The old man began organizing his desk, he didn't want to leave out any important documents for a potential spy to see, or a potential kidnaper. It was the one thing that made sense to the Hokage, that Naruto had been taken by someone. Now he had a guest who knew where the boy was. _It could be some sort of ransom, or a threat against the village._

Sarutobi thought he was ready for anything, any sort of person who could walk into the room. He wasn't ready for what he got, a man in his thirty's with light-brown hair wearing white robes. He didn't wear any sort of indicator to show what village he was from, not even making him a missing nin. The strangest thing was that the man didn't feel real, it was the only way the Hokage could describe it. He had never encountered something like it before, but the man didn't seem to be really there. A strange phenomenon to say the least.

The stranger gave Sarutobi a waist bow and said, "Greetings honorable Hokage, I am Yoshi Ichihara."

The old man gave Yoshi a nod and replied, "Thank you. I believe you said you have some information on Naruto Uzumaki, correct?"

Yoshi could see the man was suspicious of him. The Hokage wasn't giving any physical signs away, but the priest could still tell. It was a logical conclusion, a boy disappears into thin air then someone who know where he is appears. The man even toyed with the idea of leading the Hokage down that path for a while, but decided against it. "Yes, young Naruto found his way into my home. I took a liking to him, so I offered to assist him in his training."

Sarutobi couldn't tell if the man was lying, he talked like he was simply discussing the weather and constantly had on that nice little smile. "I see, and where is your home exactly." The Hokage had never seen this man before in his entire life, and he was sure he'd remember someone as strange as this.

"Good question, but I'm not too sure myself." Sarutobi only frowned while Yoshi just smiled wider, _I never get tired of answering that question._ He decided to elaborated, "It is a place which can be entered from everywhere, yet doesn't exist anywhere. Another dimension, or perhaps another plane of reality."

"Do you really expect me to believe that?" _This man isn't making any demands for money or anything. Why is he making such outrageous stories._

For his part, Yoshi smiled his usual smile while replying, "All I did was tell you the truth, whether you believe me or not is up to you."

The old Hokage simply sighed, "You said you were going to train Naruto correct?" Nod. "How long?"

"Four years." Sarutobi could only look at the man in front of him, calmly talking about removing Naruto Uzumaki, the keeper of the Kyubi, from the village for four years.

"What if I don't agree to this arrangement?" Although he didn't like the idea of Naruto being tormented in the village, he really didn't approve of him being trained outside the village by this complete stranger.

The priest was unfazed by this, "Whether or not you agree has no purpose at all. I made this offer to Naruto, and Naruto was the one who accepted."

His response only caused the Hokage to get angry. "What if I stop you from leaving?" He asked while glaring at the man. While he was a humble man, Sarutobi didn't want Naruto to leave the village with anyone he didn't know and trust.

"If you try and do that, you'll just be wasting your time and energy. I'm here for two reasons: to let you know where Naruto is and what he is doing, and to learn what your requirements for genin is. I have already done the first task, so now all I need is to finish the second." This only earned Yoshi an even deeper glare, so he continued, "I assume you test the three basic ninjutsu and the basics of shinobi law at the very least, anything else I should be aware of?"

Silence was the only answer for the priest, so with a happy smile he added, "No? All right, my work here is done. I'll tell Naruto you said hi." The man turned to leave, and Sarutobi struck. He threw three shurikens at Yoshi's back, but they were ineffective as they passed through the man's body. In fact, his entire body has become transparent.

"What on earth?"

The priest turned back to face the stunned old man and gave him a mischievous little smile. "I figured you'd do something like this so I decided to send a projection to talk to you instead of coming in person." It was the highest level of astral projection, one powerful enough to let others see him and also let him manipulate the physical world. The problem was the astral body didn't have his abilities or chakra, so he couldn't do anything special.

"Don't worry, Naruto will return in four years, ready to become a ninja. He'll have to go through a year of the academy, but that's better then nothing." The man was becoming less and less substantial, his final words were, "I'll see you again someday, Lord Hokage."

Over the next week Sarutobi sent out shinobi to try and find both Yoshi and Naruto, but all were unsuccessful. Eventually the old man was left with only one option, to hope that Naruto was truly fine and that he would be returning in four years ready to be a ninja of Konoha.

* * *

The next day found Naruto asleep in one of Yoshi's rooms. He'd had a long day, after talking with the Priest they'd both had a lunch consisting of Udon with rice and vegetables. Yoshi turned out to be quite a good cook, the Udon and rice being delicious. The vegetables… well they'd been veggies so Naruto tried to avoid them. Tried being the key word since Yoshi made sure the boy had eaten everything on his plate. The look on the priest's face when he'd asked "aren't you going to eat your vegetables, Naruto?" gave the blond a feeling that if he hadn't replied "yes, sir" Yoshi would have tied him down and force fed him the greens. He'd chosen to save some face and choke down the rabbit food.

Yoshi needed to go buy shinobi supplies for Naruto, so the afternoon had consisted of the blond exploring the forest. He couldn't get through all of the forest, the place was large enough that it could take years to fully explore, but he had found a trail behind the temple with lead to a river after a short half mile walk. Said river led to a lake with a fourth of the bank surrounded by a short cliff letting the lake be filled by a waterfall. Not a huge fall, it was only about a ten-foot drop into the lake, but it was as wide as the river and Naruto liked it a lot. The lake was deep enough for swimming, which is what the blond decided to do. He shed his cloths, nobody was around to see him or anything, and jumped in. The water was cold, but not cold enough to hurt the jinchurichi. Naruto found the water was even deeper by the cliff face, deep enough for the blond to try diving from the cliff at a later date.

After the swim, the boy found a dry patch of grass to lie down and dry off on. He like the place, it was nice to be somewhere he could act like a kid without being looked down on. It was relaxing, warm, comfortable, the blond didn't even realize he'd fallen asleep. It was just a few hours, but it was warm and relaxing.

After he woke up, it was darker then it was before so Naruto figured it was probably close to nightfall. It was truly strange that a place that wasn't anywhere could have a night and day, but it did. The blond got up from where he was napping, got his cloths back on and headed back down the river to the trail. He got back to the temple and could smell something cooking. Something delicious, something familiar. He raced inside to find Yoshi at the stove making a pot of miso ramen from scratch. Naruto couldn't actually see the contents but he could recognize the smell.

"Welcome back little Naruto. How'd you like exploring?" It was kind of fun for Naruto to see his sensei in an apron making dinner like that. There were bowls and chop sticks on the counter so Naruto set the table while Yoshi put the finishing touches on the ramen. It didn't take long until both Naruto's and Yoshi's bowls were filled with ramen and the boy was telling the priest about his swim.

Even while talking, Naruto was able to eat two servings of ramen before Yoshi had gotten through his one. The priest had made enough to feed four normal adults one large serving each, but the man figured if Naruto could eat two adult servings of udon and rice in one sitting that he'd eat three of his favorite food. As the blond began his third bowl he asked, "So sensei, where did you go to get this stuff." Yoshi's ramen wasn't as good as Ichiraku's Ramen, but it was a close second.

"I believe it was Amegakure. They had a superb selection of weapons and a fair supply of ramen. Most of the people seemed shady but it was still a good location."

"You went all the way to Ame from Konoha?" Naruto knew a little bit of geography, he knew Rain and Leaf were days journey away.

"No Naruto, this place doesn't have a set exit or entrance. One can enter this place from anywhere, and this place can exit to anywhere as well."

The child got excited from that piece of news, "You mean, this place can send you anywhere you want?" _That's so cool. I could travel across the country in just a few minutes_

Yoshi could tell what the boy was thinking so he derailed his train of thought. "It doesn't work like that, Naruto. You don't get to choose where you exit to."

"Huh?"

"One doesn't choose to come to this place, in the same manner one doesn't get to choose where you exit to. Do you remember the requirement for entering this place Naruto?"

The blond thought back, to the morning, _What it truly seems to boil down to is that_ " 'if someone is suppose to be here, then they'll enter this place.' "

With a little smile, Yoshi replied "Good memory. The same goes for leaving this place, when you leave you'll go where you should go, not where you want to be."

Naruto consumed the second half of his bowl while asking, "but you can enter here when you want to right?" He'd have to if he left to get supplies then came back.

A smile graced Yoshi's face, it was kind of different from any of the others Naruto had seen. At the time he didn't know it, but the priest was proud of his student. It was a look of happiness that his pupil had finished his assignment before anticipated. The boy didn't really know just what that smile was, but he liked it best of any smile he'd seen before. "Yes, this place seems to accept me so I can return here at any time. However, I am not the master of this mountain so I don't get to choose where I'll exit to."

Naruto finished off his ramen and smiled contently, it was all good and he got to eat his full. The best part, it was free. Well, almost free. "Come on squirt, your helping me with dishes." The priest pulled Naruto up by the arm and put the dishes into the boys arms while taking the pot himself.

While being herded to the sink, Naruto asked "Why? I don't like cleaning dishes."

"That doesn't matter. I made the food and you ate it, this is compensation for my cooking."

"You mean the food wasn't free?" The child felt cheated, but he was ignoring the fact that Yoshi was the one willing to teach him ninjutsu.

Then his face go serious and the man replied, "Nothing is free in this world, Naruto. Everything costs something, whether it be money, time, happiness, or effort. Nothing worth having is free." His expression brightened, "So you'll be drying and I'll wash everything."

Naruto grumbled a little bit, but not as much as he thought he would. Washing dishes at home had always been a bore, just a way to remind himself of how alone he was. He'd never washed dishes with someone else before, and actually found it nice. Not that he would admit it to anyone.

Soon the dishes were clean and night was upon them, forcing Yoshi to light the lamps in the house for a time. "All right Naruto, I've got one last errand to run today so you've got free time till then. You probably shouldn't go wandering around in the dark yet or you'll get lost, but you can read from the library if you want. Lastly, I'm going traveling Konoha, so is there anyone there you want me to talk to? Someone who'll want to know what happened to you?"

Naruto put on his thinking pose, but only came up with one person. "Just Ojii-san, the Hokage. I can't think of anyone besides him."

A serious frown overtook the priests features for a moment, but it was soon lost to Yoshi's usual smile. "All right squirt, I'll probably see you tomorrow morning. Be up by the time its light out and be ready for training." With that, Yoshi left the building leaving Naruto free reign. Without much else to do, the boy took his sensei's advice and got something to read to keep himself entertained. The child knew he wasn't going to get to sleep anytime soon with the nap he'd had earlier so he got really into the fiction novel (he wasn't going to choose anything but a jutsu scroll or something entertaining) and keep reading well past midnight.

Unfortunately, when his sensei said 'be up before its light out' he meant it. Naruto would come to learn his sensei had various methods for motivating his student. "Its morning Naruto, time to get up." The child's sleepy mind couldn't really register much beyond the fact that someone was trying to wake him from his cozy sleep.

"Give me five more minutes…" was all the blond could say in his current state.

"I'll give you three more minutes to get up by yourself, squirt. After that I'll help you get up." The disturbance left giving the boy the peace and quiet he wanted. It didn't take long for sleep to reclaim the blond. Soon, two and a half minutes passed bringing another annoyance. 'Thunk' _Thunk? What does thunk mean? _"Come on Naruto, you've only got 20 more seconds to get up by yourself."

_Its too soon to get up_. "Give me five more minutes," the boy mumble out. He could feel Yoshi frown but he didn't care. _Its so nice and fluffy and warm and,_ 'splash!' "Gaaaah!" _Coldcoldcoldcoldcold_. Naruto shot up out of bed, dripping wet, only to have something large and metal drop on his head. With a yell, the boy grabbed the top of his skull while a bucket fell to the floor with a 'clank clank clank'. "What the hell was that for?!"

Yoshi reached down to grab the bucket while saying, "I told you to get up but you didn't seem willing or able, so I decided to give you some incentive."

The Jinchuuriki was so angry he thought there was steam coming off of him. "You could have done something other then throw a bucket of cold water on me."

Countering his anger with a happy little smile, the priest simply replied, "I could have, but those methods wouldn't involve you getting wet."

"What does my getting drenched have to do with anything?!" Naruto shouted.

The priest closed his eyes and gave him an even happier smile while replying, "Because I find it highly amusing."

With a glare, the boy thought _I'll make him pay for this one day._ Getting up out of the bed, he asked, "what did dropping the bucket on me have to do with anything?"

The priest was at the door with the bucket in hand when he answered, "Extra incentive." Earning him another glare. "I put your cloths in the dresser, I got you some new stuff while I was out yesterday. Breakfast will be ready in five minutes. And with that he left the soaking boy in the room. Naruto took off his wet cloths then found a towel on his bed, brought by Yoshi when he'd "helped" him wake up.

After getting dry Naruto walked over the dresser but couldn't find his orange jumpsuit in the first drawer, or the second, or the third… _what does he expect me to wear?_ The child stomped out of the room with some of the cloths in hand and walked into the kitchen to find his sensei in an apron making rice for breakfast. "Yoshi-sensei, what is this stuff?" Naruto asked while holding up a shirt and pants, both were a dark red color. The other cloths in the drawers had been dark blue, dark green, and dark brown.

After looking at what Naruto was holding for just a second, Yoshi turned back to his work and replied, "Its your cloths, Naruto. Choose which ones you like best and put them on."

The boy just frowned, "I liked my jumpsuit, where'd it go?"

Yoshi didn't even look up from his copping and said, "I threw it away."

"What?!" Naruto was just getting more and more pissed. First the wake-up and now this? "What was wrong with my orange jumpsuit?"

"Everything," the priest began. Naruto only glared at the man so he continued, "Those cloths were horrible in both a fashion sense and in shinobi practices. Ninjas are beings of secrecy, wearing bright orange like that practically screams, 'Here I am, come and kill me!'" Yoshi could feel Naruto's resolve begin to waver, he wasn't convinced by any stretch of the imagination but it was a start.

"But I really liked that jumpsuit."

"Its either you learn to like something else or walk around in your underwear for the rest of your life." Naruto actually seemed to debate the options for a few moments until he finally started to dress himself. Yoshi didn't care if he walked around in nothing, but eventually he'd have to deal with other people who would care so the man was glad his student had made the proper choice.

It wasn't that Yoshi didn't understand why Naruto like the color orange. One reason being it was probably the only thing someone would sell him so he had to like it. The other reason, the larger reason, was that Naruto **wanted** to be seen and noticed. The priest had been sure of it when the boy had said there was no one besides the Hokage who would miss him. It was better to be _that annoying orange wearing brat _then to nothing at all.

Naruto was soon dressed and looking at himself, trying to decided if it really was a good color for him. Since his cooking was done, Yoshi set the food off to the side so he could appraise his student. He wouldn't lie to his student, even if it meant admitting he'd made a mistake, but lucky he didn't have to. "You look great little Naru."

The child looked away, embarrassed. "Your just saying that." Shifting his weight from foot to foot, it was clear he wasn't used to being complimented.

"Naruto, look at me." When the boy just looked at the ground, the man bent down and pulled his chin up to look him directly in the eyes. "I promise that I won't lie to you Naruto. Trust me, if you looked like crap I'd say so. Luckily you don't look bad, that red color really goes well with you." He released the boy's head and it dropped away again to try and hid his blush. His aura was rippling with different emotions. _Confusion, embarrassment, happiness, this kid isn't used to getting praise_ Yoshi thought as he watched the boy. _This has put him in a good mood, but it won't last long once he gets training._ "All right Naru, let's eat. Then we'll start your first day of training."

With the thought of getting stronger motivating him, Naruto wolfed down his meal then rushed outside. Yoshi ate his food at a normal pace and followed out five minutes later to find an angry child staring at him. "What are you wasting time for?"

"Its impolite to the food and the cook to eat so fast you can't taste your meal. There's nothing we can do about that now, so lets move on to your first day of training: physical conditioning." Naruto was lead down a separate path then he'd gone down before, this one lead to a medium sized building which Yoshi labeled, the Training Hall. Inside, Naruto found various weapons: katana, wooden swords, bows and arrows and what seemed to be a newer set of shuriken and kunai. The priest saw his student eyeing the weapons and decided to make things clear. "Weapons training is part of tomorrows lesson Naruto. Today we're focusing on strengthening your body." He grabbed a clipboard off a desk along with a stopwatch. "Today I'm just finding your limits, what your strengths and weakness are, and then I'll decided how to begin your training. First things first, stretching."

So began Naruto's first training session. It was peppered with the boy's complaints and Yoshi's explanations. First stretching ("If you don't loosen your muscles then you might strain them, Naruto"), then pushups, sit ups, pull ups and crunches ("You'll need to strengthen your body to handle powerful jutsus"). Those took awhile, and left Naruto's body feeling like jelly. _After we're done, I'm finding a nice soft patch of ground and I'm just going to lay there._ Naruto couldn't go threw with his plan though because after the boy had completed his exercises the man had simply given the child a cup of water while declaring he was "sufficiently warmed up" and herded him outside.

Behind the building was a training yard, with an archery range for practicing ranged weapons and a strip of track for running. There, Naruto sprinted at top speed twice while Yoshi timed him ("speed is essential for a ninja, Naruto"). After a five minute water break the boy was ushered back inside to lift various weights to help tone his muscles (We can't do too much or you might hurt yourself). When they were finished Naruto didn't care **what** the ground was like, he was **going** to lie on it come hell or high water.

Fortunately he was able to do as planned when Yoshi said he was going to make lunch. "It should be ready in about an hour so you can do what you like till then." As Naruto flopped onto the ground Yoshi just gave him a smile, "Don't tell me your tired from just that little bit of exercise." Not even a shout of anger could emerge from the tired boy. "Just be back at the house in an hour or you won't get any lunch." With that he exited the hall leaving Naruto to drift off into sleep while lying on the hard cold floor.

* * *

He awoke thirty minutes later with his body aching from the workout. He shortly debated whether he should get up but his stomach growling reminded him of food at the temple. With some effort he got up and found his way back to home in time for rice and beans. The boy felt better after eating food, a fact his teacher noticed. "Feeling better little Naru?" 'Nod' "Well then, I guess its time for the second half of today's training." After washing the dishes together, the pair went out to the Training Hall where Yoshi retrieved two scrolls from a cabinet.

Soon they were behind the Hall and past the archery range following another trail. The priest was explaining the next exercise as they walked. "Those other exercises will help increase your strength and speed, but endurance is another story. You need another training method to increase endurance."

Naruto eyed his sensei suspiciously as he walked but couldn't help himself from asking, "What method do you have in mind, sensei?"

Yoshi gave his usual little smile and replied, "Running." They stopped at a sharp right turn while the man continued. "You'll start running at a good pace starting from here and go up the trail." He pointed for emphasis. "Your task for today is to simply go as far as you can at the pace I set."

"But I'm still sore from all of today's work sensei." The boy was whining but Yoshi held his ground.

"As a ninja, you'll find many times that you'll have to complete missions or fight when your not well rested. Its just something you'll have to deal with. Come on squirt, times a wastin." So the two began running. The pace that Yoshi set wasn't unreasonable, but it was slightly faster then when the mob had been casing the boy. However, Naruto was only able to last an hour before collapsed, too exhausted to move another inch. "Is that all you can do little Naru?" The boy could only glare at the older man.

Yoshi proceeded to go over to the side of the road and stab a Kunai into the ground. "That's your first marker Naruto. Every third day well be repeating what we did today except we'll be going slightly further then before. You'll do a few more sit ups, push ups, pull ups and squats, try to sprint the track even a tenth of a second faster, lift more reps of weights, and try to run farther along this trail then the time before. In this way Naruto, you will become stronger little by little. One step farther along this trail may not seem like much day by day, but after ten days it'll be ten steps farther. After 100 days, it'll be 100 steps farther."

Naruto understood that all right, but one question weighed on his mind. "Sensei, how do I get back to the temple if I run to my limit each time?"

The man gave one the scrolls he took from the hall and gave it to Naruto. "Open it."

Opening it as ordered, the boy found some complex writing surrounding the word temple. Smoke started to emerge from the parchment and the boy dropped the scroll, but he was soon enveloped. When the fog disappeared he found he was back at the temple again. Looking around the boy found his teacher had opened his scroll and was there as well. "A teleportation jutsu Naruto, which will take you back to the temple entrance when you can't run anymore."

The boy was exhausted so he slowly walked into the house while his sensei informed him, "That concludes your first day of training. You'll have free time to do what you want so you can read or what ever you like. I'll make dinner in another three hours though." The child didn't really care that much at the time, so he just walked to his room and laid on his bed to rest. He wasn't going to fall asleep again though, there'd be enough time for that after dinner. He didn't want to stay up half the night again and be woken up with a pail of water, so he just read for a few hours till dinner was ready.

Eating was uneventful, and afterwards Naruto really went straight to bed. Yoshi was unconcerned, thinking that this pace would only last a few weeks. _At least he'll be up and early for tomorrow. After that he'll get used to it and have more energy._

The next day found a healthy and energetic Naruto back in action. It took his sensei by surprise to say the least, he'd expected the boy to be more sore and tired after his first day. The man simply assumed it was an after effect of the demon inside the boy, so after meals Naruto moved straight on to day two, taijutsu in the morning and shuriken and kunai exercises in the afternoon.

The jinchuuriki has been excited about getting some "real shinobi training" but found it wasn't as glamorous or exciting as he once thought. Taijutsu training started with the boy learning various positions and fighting stances. Not just breezing threw them either, but meticulously learning every detail about a stance. It took all lesson for Naruto to get the first stance down, the boy would think he was doing things right but his sensei would raise or lower his arm slightly till it was in the "proper position." The same held true with his leg stance, leg width, overall body position, it went on and on till the child wanted to scream. After he finally got the "correct position" down the first time Yoshi told his student to memorize the stance and let the child relax for a minute.

After the child was off guard the man barked, "Resume your previous stance, Naruto." And the child did, or tried as he found out when the man whacked him upside the head with a paper fan saying that was not the "correct stance" and proceeded to tweak the position again till he had the "proper stance" down. This repeated until Naruto could assume the "proper stance" at anytime and continued repeating till the man was sure the blond could get into the stance without even thinking about it. Not that Naruto had done all this for hours without argument.

"This is all pointless, I've been doing good enough haven't I?" The blond had screamed after the fourth time the man had tweaked his stance.

"There is no 'good enough' if you want to be a shinobi, brat. If you don't have the 'right' position down then it's a 'wrong' position. The 'right' position will maximize your guard and maneuverability while using the least amount of energy. It may be boring and repetitive now but it'll payoff in the long run." The blond hadn't been happy about hearing that, but was becoming wise enough to know that if he didn't complete his tasks to his sensei's liking then he wouldn't progress.

After lunch, they started shuriken throwing, but it followed the same example as taijutsu exercises; learning the proper stance and throwing technique first and learning it so well that the boy could do them without even thinking about it. Over time, the boy found it held true for all manner of taijutsu, shuriken throwing, and kunai handling that the boy would go threw.

The third day consisted of various exercised needed for a shinobi. Escape techniques, trapping and hunting skills, how to start a fire with just a rock and some flint, learning when to make a fire and what types of wood would burn without smoke. Tracking skills, how to gut and clean and cook food (he'd bring in various freshly killed animals for the child to practice on), and that was only in the mornings. The afternoons where history lessons for the blond.

After a week of training, Naruto approached his teacher and asked, "Hey sensei, when are you going to teach me some cool jutsu?" They had just completed a lesson in tracking and were standing out in the middle of the forest.

The man had been expecting a question like that sooner or later, all of his students had asked him. And his reply was the same as it always had been, "After you've passed my first test, Naruto."

"I thought you were going to teach me some cool jutsus so I could become an awesome shinobi!"

Yoshi put on his serious face and began lecturing the boy. "Naruto, there's more to being a ninja then just knowing powerful jutsus. In fact, its arguable that knowing jutsus is the **least **important part of being a shinobi."

"Huh?" The boy had never seemed to consider being a shinobi to be more then just learning jutsu.

'Sigh' "Listen Naruto, even if you know the most powerful jutsu in the world, it doesn't mean you'll win a fight against an enemy. If your not strong enough to use the jutsu, then you can't use it against your opponent. If you aren't fast enough to hit the enemy, then you'll just be wasting your time and energy." Naruto seemed to understand what his sensei was saying, the light of acceptance seemed to be there, so Yoshi gave the boy another fragment of wisdom.

"Remember Naruto, even the weakest of jutsu can be useful when used creatively. There is no such thing as a weak jutsu, there are only ninja who can't use what they have effectively." Giving the boy a smile he added, "It's kind of like pushing a person. It may not do much, but if you wait till your opponent is off-balance a simple push can make someone fall flat on his face."

The jinchuuriki understood, but he decided to return to the previous issue. "When will I get to take the first test?"

The priest graced his student with a happy little smile, which the boy had come to recognize as a sign that he wouldn't like the answer he received. "That all depends entirely on you little Naru." The child only scowled as his teacher continued. "It'll be a test on the skills you learn on the third day. The faster you learn and retain what I teach you, the faster you'll take the test. Its something that I've done with every student I've taken."

"How many people have you trained sensei?" The boy asked suspiciously. Looking over the man, Naruto confirmed that he didn't look over forty.

"You'll be my twentieth student, little Naru." The man could feel anger radiating off the boy so he elaborated before the child could loose it. "There are many ways to hide one's age using various jutsus and spiritual techniques. I'm far older then I look."

"How old exactly?" Naruto asked curiously.

"That, is my little secret." the priest answered with a smile. Naruto knew he wouldn't get any more of an answer from the man, so he just let it drop. As long as he got stronger, the man could keep a few secrets.

However, not ever day was about training. The boy had woken bright and early on the seventh day to find his teacher hadn't woken precisely at daybreak. While eating breakfast, the man had announced, to Naruto's horror, that seventh days were a "rest day" and he wouldn't be training the boy. "You may do what you like, Naruto. Train, read, relax, its your choice. I won't hinder or help you though."

"But you said you were going to train me, damn it!" Cheated. That's how the boy felt. Not remembering he got to training six days out of the week, he could only think that he wouldn't get to learn jutsus until the passed the first test.

Giving the boy his trademark smile, he replied, "I never said I'd train you every day." Naruto's eyes narrowed as got angry. He, clearly, wasn't getting the answers he wanted. "There's more to life then ninjutsu and training, take some time out to relax a little. If you want to train, you could continue your runs or your workouts. But you'll still be required to surpass yourself the next day."

Naruto didn't know if he could do his workout schedule two days in a row, it was still tough doing every three days. "Naruto, its good to train and become stronger but remember that your not just some machine. As invigorating it is to train, you should still take time out to have fun once in a while. Just spend the day reading, play a game, take up a hobby, the possibilities are endless. Tomorrow, though, its back to business." With that, the man got up from the table and walked out of the room leaving Naruto to reflect on his words.

Not knowing what else to do, the blond went out exploring again. He spent the whole day doing various tasks, swimming, trying cliff diving, reading about various subjects, even doing some light training. True to his word, Yoshi didn't stop Naruto from trying to train but he didn't offer any advice either.

As time passed, weeks turned into months, and months eventually turned into a year. That year had done a wonder for the child. At eight years old, the boy was as strong and fast as a normal adult, an amazing feat for a child but not that great for a ninja. He'd learned various taijutsu stances so Yoshi was soon going to begin actual sparring sessions with the boy, and he had learned enough for the priest to give him his first test. In truth, the man had been taking the boy's training at a slow pace. He could have easily pushed the boy hard enough for him to already have the speed and strength of a high genin or chunin, but he wanted to teach the child more then just how to be a shinobi.

In fact the thing he wanted to truly impart to the boy was that there was more to life then just jutsus and training. If he had focused solely on training, it could easily have taught the boy that training and strength were everything there was to life, and he just couldn't do that as a priest. Luckily, things had gone as planned and the child had taken up a few hobbies, such as writing and cooking. He only wrote in his journals, but it was still a form of writing. The child had also been learning how to cook some good meals and to fix his favorite ramen dishes.

Today, however, was not going to be normal. It started just like any other day, with the boy getting up and eating breakfast but instead of following his teacher out behind the temple the man grabbed a medium sized backpack and followed his sensei out the front of the temple and down the path to the fog barrier. As they were walking, Naruto asked, "Sensei, where are we going? This isn't the way to the training hall." _This is the path to the exit. Did I do so bad that he's kicking me out of this place?_ Yoshi had a calendar in the house so the boy knew he'd only been there a year.

"It's a special day today Little Naru, we're headed to the sight of your first test." The blond was stunned for a moment, then began cheering and jumping for joy.

"All right!" _Once I get through this, I'll get to learn some jutsu._ The boy didn't think he could be happier.

Yoshi was actually impressed. The boy wasn't a genius but he more then made up for it with hard work and determination. He had actually expect the child to be ready for the test after a year and a half to two years. As they approached the exit, the man held Naruto's hand while saying "Come on, we have to have some contact or we might end up in different places."

"Where is the testing grounds sensei?" Naruto knew his teacher wasn't a cruel man, but the man could be infuriating and loved to trick his pupil. There were times when the boy loved the man and others when he wanted to wring his neck. It didn't help that he was older and wiser and could lead the boy in circles like it was nothing.

"I had to find a suitable place 'outside' because I wouldn't be able to test you properly in here. If the mountain is feeling generous, it'll send us right to the testing grounds. If not we'll just have to travel there." They began walking through the mist, and Naruto found himself in another forest, almost exactly like the mountain forest except that it was normal. Naruto had almost forgotten what a regular forest was like, the insects and the bird songs were fairly sweet. The priest expanded his senses and found this was the place he was hopping for. Smiling his nice yet evil smile, he handed the boy his pack and explained the test.

"All right Little Naru, Inside that pack are some medical supplies, flint and five kunai." Naruto nodded but still didn't understand where it was going. "This forest is completely isolated, hundreds of miles from the nearest town. There's no shelter, no wells, no prepared food. Your test is to **survive** out here, by yourself, for one month." Naruto thought he was joking. "In order to pass, you have to be alive when I return for you." With a sudden flash of insight, the eight-year old realized he **wasn't** joking. "Have fun out here Little Naru, see you in a month." The man turned to leave, but Naruto stopped him.

"Wait, what am I suppose to do for food and water?" The boy was on the verge of panicking. This was turning out to be a day when he **really** hated his teacher.

The priest just turned to give him another happy little smile (_I hate that smile,_ the boy though) and replied, "What do you think you've been learning from me Naruto?" His face became slightly more serious, "You know how to hunt, forage, make fire, you know everything you need in order to survive. Now you just have to apply what you know. There are plenty of edible plants and animals to hunt out here, there are also hunters who'll try and eat you."

"What happens if I don't pass?" That was the question that weighted heaviest on the child's mind.

"Being a priest, in the event you fail this test I'll just find your remains, bury you, say a little prayer to ensure you reach heaven, and all will be well." He talked in a light and happy tone, like he was preparing to make a noodle dish and not about the death of his beloved student.

It only pissed Naruto off, "ALL WILL** NOT** BE WELL, DAMN IT!!"

In truth, Yoshi didn't _like _doing this but it was for the best. _Sorry Naruto, but if you really want to become a ninja, you need to gain some real world survival experience. If you can't survive out here against these animals then you'll never survive against enemy nin_._ It would be better to die out here then to be captured by an enemy and tortured to death._

He didn't explain that part to the boy though, he only goaded him slightly, "Do you really think your not strong enough to live out in the woods like this Naruto?"

It only riled the boy even more, "Of course I am you sadistic bastard!"

"Then there's no need to worry. See you in a month!" And with a smile he disappeared.

Left alone, Naruto could only scream, "I'll make you pay for this you evil freak!"

**(TBC)**

**A/N:** Fourteen pages in seven days, never again. Though I don't go to school, I work between 30 to 40 hours a week. I can't do this again. I'll try to write a page a day and update every week and a half to two weeks. Poor little Naru, left alone to fend for himself among the wolves and bears. For those of you who don't read it, I got this test from Izumi Curtis of FMA except I gave Naru a little bit of help by having him be trained first.

"even the weakest of jutsu can be useful when used creatively. There is no such thing as a weak jutsu, there are only ninja who can't use what they have effectively." Kudos to Mercedes Lackey, I based this off lines from her Heralds of Valdemar books.

See you all again.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Disclamer:**__ I don't own Naruto nor any characters or abilities created by Masashi Kishimoto. Original characters, abilities and bloodlines in this story (there will be) are mine. If someone out there thinks an ability or character of mine is cool and wishes to use it, feel free. I only ask that you give me credit._

_**Date:**__ 05/10/08_

_**Summary:**__ While running from an angry mob on his birthday, seven-year-old Naruto finds himself in a strange land where a shinobi turned priest offers to train him as a ninja. Naruto eventually discovers there is more to the world then just shinobi when he unlocks his spiritual power. Not a super Naruto fic (I hate those ones) but more of a smart and wise naruto fic._

Spiritual Fox  
Chapter 3: Into the Woods and Back Again

_Five days trapped out in the forest. Five days without company. Five days with only leaves and berries to eat. __If I don't get some real food in me then I'm not going to make it._ Naruto's stomach emphasized that fact by rumbling louder then it ever had before. The boy had never faced a situation like this before, old man Hokage had always given him an allowance or coupons for ramen. Yoshi, the current cause for his problems, had always provided food, even if it had been limited to noodles, beans, rice, meat and the occasional ramen.

Out here there was nothing but what he could get for himself. To date, he'd blown two chances for fresh meat over simple carelessness. The first time was only two days after he'd started his "test". The boy had begun everything by shouting about evil priests for a half hour, then decided to forgo more rants in favor of actually finding food and water. It had taken him most of the day to actually find a river, and he had to admit that his sensei wasn't completely evil because the river was in walking distance. His pack contained a pot for him to boil water as well as an empty water bottle and Naruto was glad for those two items. Yoshi had taught him that a person could actually go a couple of weeks without food, but only a few days without water. As Naruto learned, it wasn't pleasant but it was possible.

After boiling some water and filling his water bottle, the boy had gone around setting some traps for smaller animals. He knew it would take a while for those to catch anything, he'd learned that a person's scent could remain somewhere for up to a week before disappearing on its own (1). Less then a week if it rained. Scent had also been what caused him to loose his first hunt.

It had been the next day when he'd found the fresh trail of some deer and followed it to find them grazing. Naruto had thought everything would go as planned, he had been creeping up on the unsuspecting, and had quietly readied his kunai (he'd taken to keeping one in his hand) when the wind had blown slightly and the creatures bolted. The boy didn't bother trying to chase the deer, he was only as fast as a grown adult and that wouldn't be enough to keep up with animals who had to run for their lives almost every day.

The boy attempted to figure out what he'd done wrong, then finally understood as the wind blew again.

_/flashback/_

Naruto was out in the woods with Yoshi, having a lesson in tracking, hunting and trapping.

"Remember, little Naru, there's more to the senses then just sight. Animals, and even some ninja, can tell where people are by using their sense of smell and hearing. You need to be as quiet as possible when hunting, as well as trying to cover ones scent."

"My scent?" Naruto asked. He sniffed his arm, trying to understand what he meant.

Smiling at the child's actions, the priest only replied, "Yes Naruto, even if **you** can't smell anything, every living creature gives off a scent and one with a proper nose can track someone by their scent. When your hunting someone, or something, try to stay down wind from them. The wind will easily carry your scent to them and alert them to your presence. If you can't be down wind, you need to hide your scent with friendly animal skins or some other method. Its best if you can do both though."

/_end flashback/_

_Damn it! I'm not down wind!_ He apparently hadn't learned his lessons at all. He had to beat himself up slightly for doing something so reckless, and probably ensuring he wouldn't get any real food for a few days. He didn't get much red meat from Yoshi, but out here there wasn't any rice or noodles, so he had to make due.

That night, he re-learned another valuable lesson, don't sleep alone in a place where a hunter can easily get to you. He'd fallen asleep easily enough, sitting under a tree in a lightly forested area, but something had awoken him. It might have been his inner instinct for danger, but he'd barely been awake for 10 seconds when a bush near by rustled and out leapt a wolf. A hungry wolf who'd found prey just lying around waiting to be eaten. Faster then he could say "shinobi", Naruto had grabbed his pack and had gone the once place the animal couldn't follow, up the tree. The boy made it up the tree safely, but it had been a close call. The wolf had been nipping at his heels as he climbed.

Naruto had been awake all night, unable to return to sleep after the near-death scare. Once the initial strike had been over, the wolf had been joined by some of its pack. They had circled around the tree for about an hour, hoping their prey would come back down. Naruto had considered trying to kill a few wolves with his kunai, but it was dark and he hadn't progressed to hitting moving targets yet. In the worst-case scenario he would hit a wolf, but not kill it. The thrown kunai would be lodged in the wolf and it would run off leaving him with one less knife.

The second attempt at hunting had been two days later. It had taken those days to track again and find another group of deer. His past failure in mind, the boy had done his best to hide his scent. He'd covered himself with dirt and grass with the hope of masking his smell, while being sure that he was down wind of the deer. It seemed to go perfectly, the boy had the kunai in hand and was in range to strike. He'd taken a step forward to ready his throw and- 'snap' the animals bolted. Looking down he saw he'd stepped on a twig, one stupid twig broken by one stupid child had cost him food!

After sleeping in a tree again, the boy found himself on his fifth day; foodless, eating berries and was desperate enough to eat grass to try and calm his stomach. _Right now I'd scarf down vegetables if it would make me full. I'd kill for some rice and beans, and sell my soul for a cup of ramen…_ His stomach began growling. _I have to stop thinking of food, it's making me hungry again._

His stomach wasn't the only thing bothering him, his body ached from sleeping in trees. It was a horrible feeling, but Naruto finally understood what his sensei was trying to teach him. There was a difference between knowledge and experience. _No, difference doesn't cover it. There's a huge, aching, hungry, chasm between knowledge and experience._ Not knowing how else to quickly ease his hunger, Naruto tried his hand at spear fishing.

Yoshi had never actually shown him how to fish, he just had shown Naruto how to make a spear and told him the basics. With spear in hand, made from a sturdy branch with a kunai tied to the end of it (rope made from strips of his clothes), he returned to the river with the hope of food sustaining him. Fishing had been a minor lesson, so it hadn't been the first thing to pop into the child's mind. His main lessons had been about hunting, tracking, first aid (not medical jutsu, but old fashion bandaging and splinting), and trapping. Naturally he'd first chosen the methods he'd been taught more extensively before remembering minor lessons.

At the time, spear fishing had seemed too simple to be much good (the child had still thought flashy and complicated was the best methods), but he'd slowly been realizing that simple plans could be useful. Naruto could finally see that fishing wouldn't be glamorous, but it wouldn't waste days of time or energy. And fish wouldn't be scared away if his stomach started acting up.

The river was slow enough for him to fish, and there were enough fish swimming that missing once or twice wouldn't be the end of him. The problem was in actually spearing the scaly creatures, which proved harder then it seemed. _Maybe that's another lesson I'm suppose to learn from this, nothing is as easy as it seems._ He'd been standing at the edge of the river for half an hour and the boy had already missed four times, each time he'd been sure his aim had been perfect. In anger, he threw his staff into the water and glared at it, but soon his anger was replaced with curiosity as he looked at the branch.

_Is that doing what I think its doing?_ He lifted the spear out of the water, and dipped it back in to find it didn't go down in a straight line but slightly curved upwards. _The water distorts the image, I've been aiming too high. It isn't much, but it makes a difference when your aiming at thin fish._ Taking his spear back out of the water he waited for another fish to swim by, took aim, then aimed slightly lower and… 'splash' he could feel the creature struggling on the end of his knife. Hoisting the staff out of the water revealed a fish impaled on the end of the kunai. _FOOD!!_

Faster then he'd though possible, Naruto retracted the spear, pulled the fish from the kunai, threw the creature on the ground and brought the butt of another knife up, prepared to finish off the gilled animal. However, as he looked at the aquatic creature something stopped him. As hungry as he was, he felt pity for the fish. It has been swimming along, minding its own business, when something bigger and stronger then it decided to spear it and make it into dinner. It didn't seem fair and despite his stomach's protests, he seriously considered returning the creature back into the water. Then he remembered another one of his lessons.

/_flashback_/

It had been right before he'd started his first lesson in gutting and cleaning a kill that Yoshi had actually talked with the boy about death.

"Naruto, as a ninja you'll eventually have to kill someone or something. There is no other alternative. Whether it be the death or an animal for the sake of food or death of a person through self defense or an assassination, death is death and there's nothing you can do about it." The priest had been talking with his serious face, which told Naruto that he needed to listen and seriously think about what he was being told.

The man bent down on one knee and placed his hand on the boy's shoulder, looking him directly in the eyes so he knew Naruto was listening. "Killing is never a good thing Naruto, I knew that when I was ninja and I believe that even more strongly as a priest. Sometimes you'll find that you have to kill, but you should never kill unless its absolutely necessary. If you kill an animal for food, you should never kill more then you need and don't waste anything if you can help it. Bones can be made into tools, skins into clothing, meat preserved for later. And when killing, never be cruel about it. Make it as quick and painless as possible, for both people and animals."

"But sensei, what about enemy nin. Isn't it alright to kill them?" The boy had always grown up hearing stories about great warriors who killed bad guys. Like the Fourth Hokage who'd been one of the most powerful shinobi in the village.

Yoshi looked at his student with pity in his eyes and replied, "Do you know what an enemy nin is, Naruto?"

"Well…" A lot of what his sensei had said had confused the boy, so he had a hard time thinking of an answers He did feel a pang of sadness though, something about the question left Naruto uncomfortable.

"An enemy nin is a person, Naruto. A person with hopes, dreams, and feelings. They have loved ones, families, team mates, people who care about them and will miss them when they're gone."

"Then was the Fourth a bad person then?" This talk was turning everything the boy knew upside down.

"That depends on who you ask. The friends and family of the dead will say 'yes' and want revenge. Yet the people of your village will say 'no' and call him a hero. Its difficult to explain, but you'll understand when you grow up a little. From what I've heard of the man, he wasn't a cruel person, so I'm sure he never killed unless it was necessary and always killed people painlessly. Most important, I don't believe he ever took pleasure in killing anyone or anything."

/_end flashback_/

Naruto looked down at the fish with new resolve in his eyes. _Even if I returned it to the water, it'll probably still die from the stab wound. I'll be like the Fourth, I won't kill unless I have to, and when I do have to I'll make it as quick and painless as possible. And I can already tell that I won't like killing._ "I'm sorry." With that, he brought his knife down on the creature's head and it stopped moving. He got his pot, filled it with water and put the fish into the container to keep it wet. After that he picked up his spear again and resumed his fishing. Within half an hour, four other fish had joined the first in the pot. They where soon gutted, scaled and roasting over a fire, just waiting to be eaten. The sun set not long after that so the boy climbed into a tree and slept more peacefully then he had in a long time.

After the first week, things went smoother then before. His traps had begun working so he wasn't limited to seafood. In fact, the traps worked too well, catching more animals then he needed. This forced him to let many of the critters go because he didn't need to eat more then one small animal a day, and without some cage to keep the creatures it would be cruel to restrain them.

It was a monumental day when Naruto finally hunted successfully. No screw-ups, no bad aim, nothing but sweet victory. He didn't have the time or equipment to make skins out of the animal, nor any salt to help preserve the meat but he didn't let everything go to waste. He cooked as much meat as he could and had a feast, drying strips of food to save for later. Afterwards he took the remaining carcass and left it in an open area for his wolf friends to consume.

They weren't actually his friends, they tried to eat him almost every night, but he did like them. They were just animals trying to survive, Naruto knew what it was like to be so hungry that you'd go after anything you could to fill your stomach. He still liked their hard work, hunting skills, and determination though.

Soon enough, a man entered Naruto's section of the forest. A man who Naruto had waited a month to see. Naruto was hiding very good, he was masking his scent and staying hidden but Yoshi had his spirit sense and feel where the boy was. Three kunai were thrown at the priest, but he didn't bat an eye as he dodged them. When they missed a dirt covered boy who's cloths were in tatters jumped from his hiding spot and confronted the man. "YOU!"

"Congratulations on passing, little Naru." The ever present smile of his sensei only angered the child.

"Do you have any idea what I've been through out here?" Righteous anger radiated off Naruto. It didn't matter that he understood why the priest had left him for a month, or that he was stronger, or that he'd finally progressed to learning ninjutsu, the cause of his pain and suffering was here and retribution was within his grasp.

While scratching the side of his head the man replied, "Looks like you've been through hell. And you might have matured slightly." Yoshi gave the boy an appraising looked and seemed to like what he saw as he continued, "Well, ready to head back and start learning ninjutsu?"

"What makes you think I'll go back with you and learn anything you freak of a priest?!" Naruto shouted in anger. In truth, the boy wanted to go back and learn ninjutsu but he was still angry. _After everything I've been though, it'll take a lot for me to forgive and forget._

Yoshi seemed to become visibly sad at that statement. "You mean you won't come back with me?" A pissed off glare was the only reply. "That's too bad. I was planning on preparing a ramen feast while you had a nice hot bath."

"Ramen?" The thing Naruto had missed more then anything while out in the woods. Yoshi could see the boy's anger fade and he just smiled.

"That's right Naruto, all-you-can-eat ramen to celebrate passing your test after your nice hot bath." The boy's eyes glazed over and the man smiled wider as he continued. "Then you get to relax all day and have even more ramen for dinner." Drool escaped the child's mouth and he didn't even bother to wipe it off. "After all of that you get to sleep in a nice soft bed for the night and start ninjutsu training tomorrow."

Word fragments floated through the boy's mind. _Ramen, bath, more ramen, bed, all-I-can-eat ramen, ninjutsu, ramen galore… aren't I suppose to be angry about something?_ A smile matching Yoshi's graced Naruto's face as he finally replied "So, when do we leave?"

_I knew that would work,_ the man thought as he looked at the child. "Right now." He grabbed his student's hand and they both disappeared into the mist.

--

True to his word, the boy got all the ramen he could handle after getting himself clean and throwing on new cloths. Yoshi wasn't surprised when Naruto inhaled his first two bowls of ramen, or when he slowed down after those first two and enjoyed eating another four bowls after that making twice his normal amount in one meal. However, the priest wasn't prepared when the boy started talking. "Hey sensei, do you remember the first day I came here?"

The man smiled warmly as he answered, "Of course I do, its not every day I have a child come onto this mountain."

The boy looked at his teacher seriously as he continued talking. "I had a lot of time to thing out there, and I remember during our first meeting you said something, 'The people of Konoha seem to unjustly hate you, so why do you stay?' You knew that almost everyone in Konoha hated me, at the time I didn't think about it, but how did you know?" The man didn't answer so the boy pressed for details. "I never told you that I was hated, even if I was beaten by some people, that wouldn't have been enough to know. If that's the case, then do you know why most people seem to hate me?"

The man only looked at the eight-year old in front of him and wondered what to say. He didn't like lying, but he didn't think t he boy was ready to learn he had a demon trapped in him. With the man's spirit sight it was easy to see the second demonic soul trapped in Naruto's body. The boy deserved the truth, but Yoshi didn't think it was the right time to tell him. The priest decided to answer the question in just that way, "Yes Naruto, I do know why most people hate you, but now is not the right time for you to know. I will tell you eventually because you deserve that knowledge, but right now it will only interfere with your training and make you angry."

"When is eventually sensei?" It was a logical question, eventually could mean in a few days, or in a few decades. Naruto didn't want to wait that long.

Yoshi understood all too well. Naruto was the type who didn't like waiting indefinitely, and he knew that was what the priest's response had been. Seeing as he liked the child, the man decided to throw his cute little student a bone with a more definite answer. "One week before you leave here Naruto, that's when I'll tell you the truth." It was the best he could do for the child, to let him know he'll get the information but put it off till a later date. "Now, no need to help me clean up, its your first day back and your starting training tomorrow. I can let you off helping me just this once."

To his surprise, the boy actually helped clear the table and put dishes into the sink, then he grabbed a towel and waited for Yoshi to start washing. He actually seemed embarrassed when he said, "I'll help. I actually missed doing stuff like this with you." The priest translated that into, 'I didn't like being all alone again.'

With a soft smile, the man answered, "Help if you like, squirt."

--

The day progressed exactly as Yoshi has described, with Naruto getting re-acquainted with the mountain and just relaxing the day away. Dinner brought another round of ramen, only 4 bowls, followed by Naruto's old habit of reading before going to bed. Naruto never dreamed he'd be so happy to sleep in a bed, but after sleeping in trees for a month it was understandable. Especially when the first few times he tried, he fell out of said trees and painfully crashed into the ground.

It was like some sort of fantasy to get a regular bed and be clean after getting a bath. _What was it sensei said that one time? 'You never appreciate something until you have to go without it.' How many of those damn lessons can he cram into one month?_ He didn't really have time to think about that though as he drifted off to sleep.

The following day held the original pattern as before, get up, eat, train, eat again, train harder, final meal, then read until bed. The only difference was in the order of the days, first being the ninjutsu lessons on the first day, physical training on the second, and third being taijutsu. Taijutsu progressed to Naruto learning how to transform his stances and moves into actual fighting, which was what the child had been looking forward to for a year.

Physical training was the same as always, conditioning supervised by Yoshi during the first half of the day followed by solitary running the second half. The priest had stopped accompanying the blond on his runs up the mountain. It didn't matter to the man whether or not the boy continued pushing himself, but as he had explained, if Naruto didn't push himself he wouldn't get stronger. The boy had been tempted to just give up and not run farther then before, many times actually, but he'd remembered the promise he made to become stronger. He'd never broken a promise before and he wasn't going to start with a promise to himself.

Ninjutsu had started off with Naruto learning theory and hand signs first. Naruto had acquired more patience out in the forest and worked hard at the beginning lessons. He knew he wouldn't move on to anything else if he didn't complete his work and also knew, well had been told by Yoshi multiple times, that if he didn't get the basics down right then his future work would always be unstable.

That's how the first two months back went, practicing hand signs and sign weaving. Naruto always put in extra hours in with that work, wanting to get advanced enough to learn and use actual jutsu, and the extra hours paid off. When Yoshi ordered him to weave specific signs together, Naruto could do so quickly and flawlessly. However, the priest was afraid his student might forget some of his previous lessons, so he peppered ninjutsu training with old survival and first aid questions. The first time Naruto encountered one of these questions he was thrown off guard and couldn't answer so they spent the first half of that day re-learning the material before moving onto sign weaving again.

During the second month, Yoshi told his student he was going to learn his first jutsu and the child couldn't contain himself. He started jumping around the room screaming and yelling his excitement. His happiness dimmed when he learned it was only going to be the henege no jutsu.

"Why can't I learn something really cool?" The blond had asked. This earned him a hit upside the head from his instructor. _After everything I've done, he still thinks that coolness is everything?_

The priest thought be might be developing a headache as he answered, "Henge is an extremely useful jutsu Naruto. With it, you can transform yourself to look like anybody or anything. You could disguise yourself as an enemy, or even transform into an object. It can be use creatively in thousands of different ways, its probably one of the most useful jutsu you'll ever encounter." The blond didn't seem convinced so he was forced to use his last and best technique against the boy. "There's also the fact that its one of the three jutsu they test each academy student, if you can't do it you won't become a ninja and will never become Hokage."

That one got the boy's attention, "So when do I start learning?" Yoshi inwardly winced as he thought of how his student seemed to become focused solely on training again. It took Naruto two months to learn and use henge, for multiple reasons. Once again, the priest was taking things slowly, trying to get focused once again on other things then training. He was only half successful, the boy hadn't forgotten any of his old hobbies, but he didn't practice them as often as before.

It didn't help that the blonde's chakra control was beyond terrible. It **was** the boy's first jutsu, even if he could weave signs near perfectly, he'd never actually manipulated chakra to use an actual jutsu. But Naruto's chakra control was well below what Yoshi's experience told him a beginner should be. Granted, he'd never taught a jinchuriki before, but he didn't think he would be that bad. He had even taken account of the boy's abundance of chakra, it was at least as high as an upper chunin, and his control was still miserable. The only thing the man could think of was that something about the demon in him was throwing things off.

He did eventually master the technique, which by Yoshi's standards meant he could transform into anything he's seen before flawlessly within seconds. Person, animal, object, nothing was beyond the boy's reach. With a little bit of experience under his belt, the child was able to learn the substitution jutsu faster, but it still took Naruto one and a half months to master the ability. The biggest hurdle became the third basic technique, bunshin no jutsu. Yoshi had given this one to Naruto last because he wanted him to gain some experience in chakra control before trying to tackle it. Try being the best word possible because the blond just couldn't do it.

Even with good sign weaving, he always pumped too much chakra into his jutsu to work properly. Of all the basics, it was the one which needed the most control. Without the right amount of chakra the jutsu failed and he just couldn't get his levels low enough to use the jutsu. And the boy tried his best, but after two and a half months with no improvement, Yoshi was ready to try a different approach. From the previous months' experience, Naruto usually spent two to three weeks trying to get the jutsu to even work, then a short time getting it to work at will, then the priest spent the rest of the time showing him various methods of using the jutsu.

It had never taken the boy so long to get the jutsu to work at will, and it was wearing on his self confidence. It wasn't completely Naruto's fault either. His young mind and body couldn't really handle the shear mass of power that he held. As Yoshi watched the child train, again, many thoughts raced through his mind. _He would eventually get enough control over time, but it could take years for his mind and body to adapt. We could just skip it, but he needs a bunshin, its required by the academy. If he didn't have so much chakra… he does have a lot of chakra, maybe he could master that._

It was close to the end of the session, so Yoshi called it a day and went about planning for the next training session in three days time.

**(TBC)**

--

**A/N:** Not much to say about anything here. 9 pages of work in nine days is good.

**(1)** I remember reading this in a book called Where the Red Fern Grows when I was in elementary school. I looked online, but wasn't able to find any credible sources to confirm or deny that statement. I have no clue if its true or not, or what kind of animals are driven away by human scent, but its not that big of an issue since it won't be returning any time soon.

I am saddened by the lack of reviews though. Many people are putting this on story alert, but not many people are reviewing. I'll keep writing, reviews or not, but reviews help.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclamer:** I don't own Naruto nor any characters or abilities created by Masashi Kishimoto. Original characters, abilities and bloodlines in this story (there will be) are mine. If someone out there thinks an ability or character of mine is cool and wishes to use it, feel free. I only ask that you give me credit.

**Date:** 05/19/08

**Summary:** While running from an angry mob on his birthday, seven-year-old Naruto finds himself in a strange land where a shinobi turned priest offers to train him as a ninja. Naruto eventually discovers there is more to the world then just shinobi when he unlocks his spiritual power. Not a super Naruto fic (I hate those ones) but more of a smart and wise naruto fic.

**Reviews:** Please review. I enjoy reviews, even if its only one or two words. I do not appreciate flames. If you don't like this story, its concept, or my writing style then don't read it. Don't read it then complane to me about it.

Spiritual Fox  
Chapter 4: Kage Bunshin

Three days later, Naruto felt like crap. There was no other way he could describe himself. Anything else could do a bunshin, a simple bunshin, after three months of working at it. His sensei had been trying to help him, but he just couldn't get it right. Yoshi hadn't actually come out and said what the problem was, but Naruto hadn't expected him to, it went against his style. His sensei usually asked questions, specific questions that made his student think of the answers for himself. It was annoying and slow, but the priest was adamant that it would help in the long run, much like his taijutsu. His physical training and taijutsu had also taken a dip, Naruto's low self esteem had also been effecting his other work.

The blond didn't want to get out of his bed, it didn't seem worth it. He wasn't surprised when is sensei came into wake him, but he was caught off guard when the man hauled Naruto out of bed and said, "What's the matter little Naru, don't tell me your giving up on being a ninja that easily."

"What's the point Sensei? If I can't do a bunshin then I can't pass the exam. If I can't do that, then I'll never become a ninja or Hokage. And I just can't get the bunshin down, it's impossible." Naruto felt like he was rubbing salt into his wounds but he couldn't help himself.

"So, you noticed it was impossible too, huh?" If the boy didn't know any better, he'd say the man actually seemed proud of his student. He was smiling that damn little smile of his as he continued, "No need to despair little Naru, get dressed and lets eat. Then I'll show you something cool."

With that Yoshi left and Naruto was completely baffled. _I've never heard him say something like, 'I'll teach you something cool.' What exactly is he planning._ Curiosity peaked, he got dressed and went to have some breakfast. Soon they were out in the archery field, Naruto ready for a lesson. Yoshi's words had the desired effect of replacing Naruto's doubts with curiosity, the boy really couldn't focus on more then one thing at a time even in the emotional realm.

"All righty, you're going to be learning a new jutsu today Naruto, so you can forget about Bunshin no Jutsu."

"HUH?!" The boy thought he must be hearing things. It was the same teacher as before, he had the same stance, the same height, and that annoying smile hadn't changed. Something was going on. "But sensei, you said I'd have to learn all your lessons. That I wouldn't progress until I mastered what I was currently working on."

"I also told you that all things change. You yourself admitted that it was impossible for you to use bunshin no jutsu, do you know why?" It sounded like his teacher too. That serious look was the same and he was asking questions.

Yoshi's look was serious, but it wasn't negative. It was more like he was curious about what the boy in front of him would say. "I keep flooding a bunshin with chakra, it over loads it and causes it to fail. I've been trying to put less into it, but it just isn't working and… why are you smiling like that you twisted jack-off?!" While Naruto had been talking his sensei had gone from having a serious face to his usual happy smile. It just pissed the child off that his sensei wouldn't be serious while his student was talking about why he failed.

The man just looked at the boy gently and answered, "I'm smiling because I'm proud of you Naruto. Its rare to find someone who can see his faults and try to fix them. Normally, a person has to go through a near death experience to learn that ignoring ones weaknesses don't make them go away." Naruto had a little bit of color on his cheeks as the priest continued. The blond was getting used to being praised, but it still embarrassed him slightly. "I knew your chakra control was going to be horrible from the get go, and after two weeks of practicing bunshin no jutsu I had a feeling you might not be able to complete the exercise. After last practice, I decided to just scrap bunshin and teach you a different bunshin."

"If you knew my chakra control was so lousy, why didn't you say anything? And what do you mean, 'a different bunshin'? How many bunshin jutsu are there?" The child was experiencing a strange mix of angry and curious.

Yoshi closed his eyes and began holding his chin as he answered the boy. "To answer your first question, I didn't tell you because it would be pointless to do so." _What's he talking about._ The man seemed to understand his student's confused look as he clarified. "Faults and weaknesses are things you have to recognize and fix by yourself. As your teacher, all I can do is try and guide you to understand your own weaknesses. If I told you 'Your chakra control is terrible' at the beginning, you'd probably have ignored me. It wouldn't matter if its true, if you didn't accept it as a real problem then you wouldn't have put any effort into fixing it."

Naruto bristled at that. He didn't know whether he'd agreed with that statement completely, but it didn't seem like it was all untrue. Despite his anger, he was curious about something else, "Sensei, did you have to go through a near death experience to learn that?" _I wonder if he's included in the 'most people' part._

Yoshi visibly sadden and he fell silent. The boy thought he might not even answer the question until he finally spoke up. "Yes Naruto. I was only a young and stupid fool, my ninjutsu and genjutsu were great, but I couldn't use taijutsu at all. I didn't even try to learn, I just ignored it. My teacher and even my teammates all warned me about leaving a skill completely untrained, but I didn't think of it as important and ignored them. One of my team even tried to forcibly teach me, but I only got angry and pulled away even more.

"Then one day we went on a mission, and came face to face with a team of taijutsu experts. I couldn't get off one technique, I couldn't even defend myself. The opponent was too fast for me to beat or catch with my skills. I nearly died, and in the process, I almost got one of my teammates and my best friend killed as well. That's what hurt even more then anything else, the fact that my stupidity had almost killed someone I cared about."

"Sensei…" Naruto tried to wonder what he would feel in the same position. To have someone he loved get hurt because of a mistake he himself made. It didn't settle well with him. "You know you could have just told me what I was doing wrong, I would have listened."

"The problem is that I won't be around for the rest of your life Naruto. Eventually you'll be on your own and have to find your weaknesses yourself. Its best to start you on the path of self discovery early then making you dependant on me to help see what's wrong. But I am very proud of you Naruto, I never expected you to just come out and admit to your weakness. All I had in store for you today was teaching you a different lesson." _I could just teach him chakra control exercises, but I'd have to teach him up to the water walking exercise to get his skill to the right level. And what's the point of teaching him a weak bunshin when I could just teach him a really strong bunshin instead._

Yoshi flashed his familiar smile and decided to return to the main topic. "All right, little Naru, your second question was about various bunshin right?" '_Nod_' "That also brings us to your next lesson. The truth is that there are many types of bunshin, almost as many as there are physical elements." Naruto was listening intently as his teacher explained various bunshin. Books had talked about this, but it nothing really definite. "The academy level Bunshin no Jutsu only creates an illusion of a person. Its something which can only be seen, but you can't touch it or smell it. There are other bunshin, however, which take physical elements and animate them to give the clones a physical aspect. For example, Misu Bunshin use nearby water for their clones."

Naruto was getting excited. He could see where this discussion was heading. Leaning forward, the boy asked, "So your going to teach me some sort of elemental bunshin, right sensei?"

"Nope." Blond boy fell flat on his face. "With your chakra levels, you can learn the highest form of bunshin. It creates a physical clone from nothing what-so-ever, the technique known as Kage Bunshin. After you learn this technique you'll create real clones which can fight, lift, do anything you can do. Its labeled as a Jonin class ability, so I doubt any other Genin you meet will be able to do it."

Naruto's eyes were wide with excitement. It was exactly what he wanted, a powerful jutsu which would shock everyone around him.

"There are some drawbacks to this skill, little Naru." Yoshi was looking serious, which told Naruto he still needed to listen to his teacher. "The first being the amount of chakra needed to create and maintain the clones. Other physical clones take elements to make them solid, but Kage Bunshin makes clones from your own chakra pools. The technique uses a large chunk of chakra to create the clones, then divides the rest of your chakra among the clones to sustain them. Once a clone is dispelled the remaining chakra in the clone will return to you, but it doesn't change the fact that it takes a lot just to make the copies in the first place. Its labeled as a Jonin level jutsu for a reason, Naruto. Mainly because Jonin level ninja are the only ones who have enough chakra to make it work without exhausting themselves."

Naruto understood what his teacher meant. If he used the jutsu too much, he'd loose all of his chakra in no time. It still sounded like an awesome technique but it had a down side. Yoshi continued, "If you learn this jutsu, then it'll be even more important that you improve your taijutsu little Naru." The boy gave a struggled squawk as he began complaining. Cutting him off with a wave of his hand, the priest explained further. "Naruto, the clones you make will have the same strength, speed and skills as you do. If you learn this justu, you should try focusing more on your taijutsu because Kage Bunshin will only amplify that discipline. Ninjutsu shouldn't be ignored though, each Kage Bunshin will have its own chakra supply and will, so they'll be able to perform jutsu just like you." Yoshi gave his mischievous smile as he watched his student shake with excitement. "So, you ready to start today's training, squirt?"

The boy jumped to his feet, pumped his fist into the air and yelled "Hell Yes!" Thus starting the blond on his new jutsu. As before, it took Naruto a week for him to gain control of using the jutsu itself but he found it took three months of lessons before his sensei told him he'd "mastered the jutsu". It wasn't that Naruto couldn't learning anything, it was just that there was a lot to learn about the technique. By the end of the time, however, Naruto would have spent twice as long on the jutsu if it meant he could use Kage Bunshin. All the things he could do, mid-air maneuvering, weapons transformation, multi-bunshin attacks, it made the child want to drool.

The last week had been the most frustrating though, his teacher had shown him his sadistic side and given him another mini-test. They were out in the training fields, Naruto revved up to learn more about Kage Bunshin, when the priest told him his surprise.

"Now, for the day's lesson Naruto. You've mastered various aspects of Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, but there's one more aspect which you still need to learn." The man fell silent and seemed to be waiting for something.

After a few moments of silence Naruto couldn't stand the wait and finally asked, "What aspect is that, Sensei?"

Yoshi gave Naruto his usual smile and the boy was suddenly filled with dread. He realized it was a day he'd hate his teacher. "Your next test, little Naru, is to figure it out for yourself." The man turned around and began walking back to the temple. He gave a backwards wave as he said, "Have fun and don't hurt yourself. Now, what should I read today."

"Hold it old man!" A pissed off child pointed an angry finger at the priest. "What do you mean, 'figure it out for yourself'!?"

Yoshi turned around and gave the child a questioning look, as if he was confused by the boy's demand. "I'd think the meaning is clear, you're to figure out the final secret of the Kage Bunshin without my help. Until you discover the technique I'll refuse to teach you anything new."

To Naruto, his teacher was being completely unreasonable. Through clenched teeth he growled, "And how exactly am I suppose to figure out this ability if you won't give me any hints?"

The man began looking serious and replied, "You can use Kage Bunshin, right?" The blond nodded. "You have the ability to think for yourself, correct?" An impatient and slightly angry nod was given. "Then use your brain and experiment with your jutsu. Try using it in ways I haven't shown you and see what you come up with. And for the record, I have given you a hint." Naruto narrowed his eyes at his instructor, angry but curious about what the information had been. "I've told you that there's something to find, that in and of itself is valuable information."

"You're not making any sense you old priest!" Yoshi had said that he was older then he looked, so the boy figured it was ok to call him old. He only did it when he was steaming mad, and this was one of those times.

With a sigh, priest began telling the boy specifically what his intention was. "Naruto, if I had never told you there was something else to find, do you think you'd ever have found out about the ability? And I'll assure you, you'd never find out anything if you only use Kage Bunshin in the normal way."

The boy's anger was lost under the intense look his teacher was giving him. Without anger clouding his judgment, the boy was able to answer honestly. He wasn't able to look at his teacher's eyes as he said, "No. If you hadn't told me there was something else to find, I'd probably never had even looked for something else. But Sensei…" There was one thing which Naruto couldn't let go of. "If there's something else, why don't you just tell me what it is?"

"The same reason you need to learn to recognize and fix your faults by yourself." Yoshi soften his look as he continued. "I won't be around to help you for every jutsu. You'll find there are some techniques you'll only learn from scrolls, and you won't have anyone to tell you every aspect of the jutsu. There may even be a way of using a technique that **nobody** has though of using before, so nobody can teach you. But if you can learn to think for yourself and experiment with your jutsu, then you might just find something unique."

The child was only half convinced, but nodded his understanding. At the very least, he knew that if he didn't complete the exercise he wouldn't move on. "This is good experimentation training Naruto. You have to try various things to see what your missing, and you'll continue to work because you know there's something to find. And for me, I'll get to start reading my new book." The blond turned his head sharply and glared at his teacher who was holding a little orange book titled, Icha Icha Paradise.

"I don't remember that one being in the library, sensei." It was true, Naruto had read most of the fiction that the priest owned and that orange book hadn't been among the collection.

With his happy smile, Yoshi said, "Correct. I was looking at a book store last week when I went into town. The shopkeeper said this series was fairly popular, so I decided to get one." The man started walking back to temple while reading his book. "Lunch will be at noon, so be back by then. Good luck to you." With that he left a disgruntled Naruto to work on his own.

It took Naruto the whole of a week to finally figure out the secret of the Kage Bunshin. At first he didn't try anything new, he just went over what he already knew. Multiple fighting, mid-air maneuvering, diversions, the boy eventually tried to other things but he only thought about the fighting aspects of a jutsu so he didn't get anywhere. After a week of getting nowhere, the boy was angry. He finally snapped when he came in for lunch to find his sensei so engrossed in his orange book that he'd forgotten to make the meal.

Naruto was tired, he'd just gotten back from making a clone pyramid (he didn't know what that might accomplish but it was better then nothing) and had hoped to get something to eat, not to come home to find nothing.

The blond began seeing red as he just looked at the man, sitting at the table just reading. He couldn't help himself as he asked, "Yoshi, have you just been reading that damn novel all morning?" _I all ready hate that book, and I'll never read it as long as I live._

With a happy nod, the priest replied, "Yep. I never knew they printed such trashy and perverted garbage, its actually quite fun. I went 'outside' and got the rest of the series this morning." With that, he just returned to reading, leaving Naruto with even redder eyesight then he had before.

"What about lunch?" The blond asked. He didn't want to go hungry.

"What **about** it?" The Yoshi replied. "You've gone days without eating, is there anything wrong with skipping one meal?"

"Ye-" He could take it, the boy let his rage overflow. "YES THERE IS YOU USELESS PERVERTED PIG!!"

The man watched with amusement as his student began ranting with even more verve then usual. He cut him off slightly towards the end when he finally suggested, "If you want lunch that bad, why don't you just make some yourself." The boy had seemed like he was calming down, but Yoshi's comment riled him up again.

"Maybe I will you freak!" The child shouted. "I'm making ramen and you're not having anything!" With that he began his preparation, he got his noodles and began chopping up his meat and vegetables. Eventually the child remembered that ramen required water, but when he turned the tap nothing happened. Slowly turning to his sensei, he asked a question but thought he already knew what the answer would be. "Yoshi-sensei, why isn't the water running?"

Looking up from his book with a confused look the man responded, "Water?" He paused with his thinking pose before coming up with his answer. "Oh yes, that wasn't working this morning. I forgot to look into it, I had just gotten to a great section of my book and couldn't put it down." This maxed the boy's red vision as he thought, _If I ever meet the person who wrote those books, I'll beat them into a bloody pulp._ "If you need some water you can get as much as you want from the river."

Naruto didn't want to waste time, so he let his hands fly through familiar signs and he created four Kage Bunshin, two to fetch water and another two to get some wood and start a fire to boil said water. He briefly had a fantasy of tying up his teacher and using his Icha Icha books to cook his meal, but knew it would never come true.

Yoshi couldn't help but tease his student while he was in such an agitated state, so he made another suggestion, "Your room was messy, so you might want to clean that up too." To his surprise, the child stopped his cooking and let his hands fly through the familiar signs again creating three Kage Bunshin which he sent to clean his room for him. Soon after, the kitchen helper clones came in with he wood and water. Soon the noodles were cooked to perfection, and Naruto dismissed his helper and cleaning bunshin as he sat down with his food and began eating straight from the pot.

While he was eating, the priest just looked at him with his smile stuck on his face. It got too annoying so the blond finally yelled, "What is it this time?"

Leaning on the table with his hands resting in his palms, the man simply asked, "So little Naru, how'd you enjoy cleaning your room and fetching water?"

The blond only gave his teacher a confused look as he responded, "What are you talking about, my bunshin did those tasks. How could I…" Except, once he thought about it, he did know. He had memories of himself going and fetching water as well as memories of himself cleaning his room. It finally donned on him what the final aspect of Kage Bunshin was. "Sensei, what you wanted me to learn was that Kage Bunshin sends back what they learn after they dispel, right? And you set up this whole lunch thing just to help me realize it."

Yoshi only smiled as Naruto figured everything out so easily. _He's getting smarter and smarter every day._ "You seemed like you could use a little bit of help." He got up and started making some tea with the remaining fire in the stove. "That final aspect of Kage Bunshin is for information gathering and training. You've only been using it in order to fight, but shinobi do much more then getting into battles. They steal, protect, inform, beginner ninja even do missions such as search for missing pets and baby-sit."

Naruto was only half listening to what Yoshi was saying, his mind was focused on something else. "If a Kage Bunshin sends information back after its dispelled, then could I use it to learn multiple jutsu at once?" The more the blond thought about it, the more he thought it was possible.

The priest had finished making his tea so he sat down in front of his student with cup and pot in hand. He pored himself a helping of the delicious liquid and slowly had his first sip before answering. "Yes Naruto, it would be easy. Once a clone is created, it has the same knowledge and abilities as you. It also has the ability to learn so any skills it perfects while created will be transferred to you as well. However, this does not include physical training. Strength and speed are part of your own physical body so a Kage Bunshin cannot help you with that. Other skills however, chakra control, ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu, are things which are perfected through mental preparation and can be trained with Kage Bunshin."

Naruto was more excited then ever before, _I can focus on increasing my speed and strength personally, and have clones work on the other stuff._

Yoshi, however, simply took another sip of tea and proceeded to burst Naruto's bubble. "I know what you're thinking little Naru, but unfortunately I will not allow you to speed up your training like that. From this day forth, for the remaining time you have under me, you are forbidden from using Kage Bunshin to quicken your training."

"WHAT!" Naruto just couldn't believe it. He'd finally mastered a powerful jutsu, and now he couldn't us it to its full potential. "Why not, damn it!"

"Because learning that way is extremely dangerous Naruto." Yoshi looked at blond straight in the eye and the boy could tell he wasn't kidding. "The human mind is a fragile thing Naruto. In a normal mind, one has only one set of memories and experiences at a given time. To give yourself multiple memories of the same time puts a strain on one's mind. The impact is lessened if one's clones are doing the same thing, such as fighting an opponent. However, if you have ten separate clones learning ten separate skills, after they're dispelled the memories become difficult to fuse together into one mind, even if you don't do it all at once."

The man visibly saddened as he continued. "I've seen it happen many times, Naruto. Someone learns Kage Bunshin and decides to continually speed train with their bunshin. They either have a mental breakdown after trying to learn 15 jutsu at once, or after a number of years, the continual strain of having multiple memories is too much and the person has a breakdown even after only learning two or three jutsu at a time or just from speeding the training of a single jutsu."

The thought of that made Naruto's blood run cold. _That was exactly what I had thought of doing, learning a lot at once or speeding up over time._ "So its ok to use Kage Bunshin in a fight against an opponent, as a distraction, or to gather intelligence, but using it to train too much can backfire an destroy your own mind, correct?" Naruto's voice sounded mostly calm, but there was a hint of fear in it. He wanted to make sure he had the facts down completely.

"Yes Naruto. I've told you before, though it bears repeating, everything comes at a price. Usually, one sacrifices his time in order to gain power and skill, but that's because time has proven to be the best trade overall. If one tries to gain power in a different way something else must be given, training with the Kage Bunshin is an example of sacrificing mental health instead of time. Other ways sacrifice physical heath, emotional support, even one's own life. Over the years, people decided that time, while a very precious thing, is much more preferable to pay then their minds, health, or emotions."

The man did his best to convey his words to the child in front of him. "You may think that a power or ability is wonderful, Naruto, but the stronger a skill is the more it costs to not only obtain, but also to use. The price for using some jutsu is so high, that retreating is a better option."

After finishing his cup of tea, Yoshi concluded his lecture. "I can not force you to listen to me after you leave here, but I advise you to never use Kage Bunshin to speed train unless you have little to no choice. It's far more advisable to simply spend longer training then to risk mental damage. Everybody is different, so it's impossible to set a limit for anyone. Some people can last seven years worth of continual speed training while others can only handle four." With a smile to his student, Yoshi told his student a brighter piece of news. "Because you've mastered the three basic ninjutsu, I'll be spreading your training out to include other aspects of a shinobi. More advanced trap setting, and hunting among the criteria." Naruto began to weakly protest, but the priest cut him off. "You may have mastered the basics, but its far more difficult to trap an intelligent creature like a human then it is to snare or hunt an animal. I'll also be showing you the basics of Genjutsu as well."

Naruto was deep in thought, however. So much so that he'd stopped eating his ramen. It made Yoshi worry about his student. _Huh, I wanted him to understand the dangers in speed training with Kage Bunshin, but I didn't thing he'd take it this hard. I need something to lighten his mood._ He decided that making the boy angry would be the most effective, and amusing, way to accomplish his goal, so he grabbed the chopsticks out of his students hands, swiped the bowl from the blond and began eating.

Naruto had been brooding a little too much about the revelations behind Kage Bunshin so he wasn't able to stop his teacher from stealing his food and utensils from him. The man had already eaten a mouthful of noodles before Naruto could react. "What the- What do you think your doing? That's my lunch you bum!"

"Well, you weren't eating so I assumed you were done." He slurped a mouthful of broth and gave a contented sigh. "You're cooking is great Naruto. Maybe you should give up on being a shinobi and become a cook instead."

His anger rose again and the boy gave an angry growl. "I'm not giving up on being a ninja, not now or ever. Now give me back my lunch, damn it!"

Yoshi only gave his student a soft smile as he replied, "Feeling better now, Naruto?" The blond was about to protest, but he realized that he was feeling better then before. The silliness of the priest's actions and the familiarity of anger had helped Naruto be more at ease. "There's no need to be angry with yourself for having an idea, Naruto. I'm actually proud of you figuring out the training aspect of Kage Bunshin, and if the results wouldn't have been so disastrous then I would have let you use the clones in training. A teacher's real job is to guide his student and help him think for himself. To let him make his own mistakes and help him learn from those mistakes, but not to let him make deadly or life threatening choices. There will be few things I'll forbid you from doing Naruto, but you can be sure that those things will be so dangerous that one wrong choice would be life threatening or life crippling."

Yoshi gave Naruto his food and chopsticks while smiling a kind smile. "Don't be upset or afraid of failing, Naruto. Everyone fails sometimes, but if you learn from those mistakes you can make up that lost ground and maybe even more. You have the rest of the day off, so enjoy it to your hearts content." He got up and left the room, Naruto remained behind and a smile slowly spread across his face as he returned to his noodles. _This is one of those times when I love being here._

**(TBC)**

* * *

**A/N:** I'm loving the dictionary and thesaurus on my word processor. If I'm not sure what a word means I can just look it up, and if I find myself using one word too much, I can just use the thesaurus to find alternate words.

I didn't think I'd dedicate an entire chapter to Kage Bunshin, but by the end of it I had 10 pages of material (5,482 words) so I just decided to end it. If not I'd probably have gone on another 5 pages to get into the next chunk of material, which would be another five days before I updated.

I have no clue whether or not that is true about training with Kage Bunshin. I haven't actually read the part of the manga where Kakashi trains Naruto's wind element chakra that way, Wiki says that a person can be overcome by the information during training, but that didn't seem good enough. It seems too good to be true that after one can learn Kage Bunshin that they can just learn multiple things at once or speed train with multiple clones with little to no negative impact. So I added my own catch, and it makes sense too.

On a serious note, I need to translate English named Jutsu into Japanese, anyone know where to go and ask for that?

Next up, Naruto learns about the spirit relm and of priests.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclamer:** I don't own Naruto nor any characters or abilities created by Masashi Kishimoto. Original characters, abilities and bloodlines in this story (there will be) are mine. If someone out there thinks an ability or character of mine is cool and wishes to use it, feel free. I only ask that you give me credit.

**Date:** 05/28/08

**Summary:** While running from an angry mob on his birthday, seven-year-old Naruto finds himself in a strange land where a shinobi turned priest offers to train him as a ninja. Naruto eventually discovers there is more to the world then just shinobi when he unlocks his spiritual power. Not a super Naruto fic (I hate those ones) but more of a smart and wise naruto fic.

**Reviews:** Please review. I enjoy reviews, even if its only one or two words. I do not appreciate flames. If you don't like this story, its concept, or my writing style then don't read it. Don't read it then complane to me about it.

Spiritual Fox  
Chapter 5: Spirits and Demons

After he learned Kage Bunshin, Naruto didn't learn any new jutsu for a while. According to Yoshi, there were other skills the boy needed to practice so they began to focus on other aspects of a shinobi. Trapping against a human being a starting point, the priest taught Naruto how to set traps that would work against most humans without killing or seriously hurting them. After the first week of the new training regimen, the boy actually surprised his teacher with a non-shinobi related question.

During a dinner consisting of rice, pork, and vegetables, Naruto began talking. That in and of itself wasn't too surprising, he almost always had something to talk about, but the topic was. "Sensei, do you think you could tell me about what exactly priests do?" The man stopped eating and looked at his student. He did have some books in the library about priests, but he never thought Naruto would actually be interested enough to read them. "I've read a little bit about them, but I haven't really understood that much."

The man put down his eating utensils and began debated whether or not to give the boy his answers. _On the one hand, I won't have to deal with him pestering me for a week, and I can give him correct information rather then let him make his own conclusions. But if I tell him he could get interested in spirit powers, and that could easily ruin his path to being a shinobi. But I did leave that book on spirit powers, so that's probably where he got interested in the first place. _In the end, Yoshi decided to answer, "What exactly did you want to know, little Naru?"

The now nine year old thought for a minute and finally answered, "Everything. How they started, what they did, and where they went."

Yoshi decided they were going to be there for a while as he began. "I'm not sure where priests began, Naruto. I can tell you that their order is far older then shinobi history. Ninjas and their chakra use have only been around for about 600 years, priests have existed far longer then that. As for what they did, priests were though of as spiritual leaders, ones who focused more on souls and the afterlife then the current physical world. They spent most of their days helping people, praying and training their spiritual powers."

Just as Yoshi had suspected, what sparked Naruto's interest was the book on various spirit powers. However, the boy knew he wouldn't get answers if he just up and asked so he'd decided on a more round about method. "Praying, why would they spend all of their time praying?"

"Living humans are able to work to make their lives better Naruto. Priests could have worked in the physical world to help the living, but when a person dies their soul can easily become trapped in the world through their own regrets. Its rare to find the spirit of a human who can find its way to the afterlife by itself, so priests decided to dedicate their time to those spirits who lost their way. The most basic spirit power is Spirit Sight, which, among other things, lets one see and communicate with the spirit realm. They had the power to talk to ghosts, let them know that their life had ended and help them move onto their next life."

"So they helped souls move on, is that everything?" For some reason, the boy had been expecting more.

"No Naruto. They tried to help living people in a different way then normal. They did their best to heal their souls. Priests were counselors who did their best to help the people with their emotional problems, and master priests could heal sicknesses using their abilities. However, what they were most well known for was demonic exorcisms."

"Demonic exorcisms?" Naruto had herd about demons before. He would have to be deaf, blind and dumb to not know about the nine-tail fox.

"Yes. They performed exorcisms which destroyed demons. It was something which even ninjas couldn't do."

The blond had to voice his confusion. "But sensei, I've heard about shinobi defeating demons before. Like the Fourth Hokage killing the nine-tail demon fox."

Yoshi decided not to correct the boy on the killing part. "True, the Fourth did defeat the demon, but he sacrificed his life in doing so. Priests and shinobi are different in almost every way, and that includes their powers. A priest's spiritual power effects the spirit realm, and works against souls, spirits, and demons. A shinobi's chakra creates various physical effects which effect physical things. The two disciplines can cross over, but only at the highest level. Only a master priest or priestess can use spiritual power to effect the physical realm, and only the highest level of ninjutsu used by the strongest shinobi can effect spiritual creatures."

Naruto though he understood, but one thing puzzled him. "If demons can kill people and stuff, then why are they considered spirit beings?"

Yoshi smiled kindly at his student, as if they were in a lesson and he'd spotted a flaw in one of his lectures. In truth, he just loved it when his student proved how quick he was and asked questions himself. "Demons were unique existences. Most spirit creatures couldn't be seen by normal humans or even effect physical objects. Ghosts themselves, while they once where human, couldn't usually be seen or see others. They couldn't even see other ghosts or spirits. Beings labeled as demons were unique spiritual creatures which could make themselves visible to the physical realm and effect it if their power was strong enough. However, their primary existence was in the spirit realm, so physical attacks couldn't harm them. Priests were the only ones able to deal with demons, so they were held in high respect by people. Eventually, however, demons disappeared from the world so the people and ninjas lost that respect."

"Sensei, demons haven't disappeared. The nine-tailed demon fox attacked Konoha years ago." The man was only confusing his student.

"Perhaps, but how many other demons have you ever heard of or encountered Naruto?" Once the boy though about it, he realized that he'd never actually seen or found information about other demons. "I've said that six hundred years ago, people began using chakra and creating ninja. Before that time, priests had exorcised many demons. So many that their numbers began declining and people saw less and less of them. About a hundred years after ninjas were created, nobody had seen or found traces of demons for years. Many, even among the priests, though demons were extinct. That in and of itself wasn't a horrible problem, but the general populace didn't understand the priests other duties. They believed that priests and priestesses only existed to help people with demonic problems, and without demons many didn't see why their order should exist.

"Priests used the support of the people, but after the demons were gone the people didn't support them. Eventually they would have become self supporting, growing their own food and making their own cloths, but ninjas became more and more powerful. A ninja is a being for fighting and killing, many groups that had been developing began fighting each other to prove their power. Priests were the opposite though, most believed in peaceful methods and non-violence. They actively spoke out against shinobi and their violent practices. This was fine while they were still exorcising demons, nobody was stupid enough to harm the only group who could easily fight off creatures like that, but after they were gone things were different. Priests lost their respect and purpose in the people's eyes, and shinobi took that as a chance to get rid of the people who were constantly butting heads with them."

The idea made Naruto's blood run cold. "You mean, shinobi actively killed all of the priests?" Naruto didn't want it to be true, but he had grown up without ever seeing a temple or even hearing about priests before he came to the mountain.

With great sadness in his eyes Yoshi replied to the boy's question, "Yes and no, little Naru. They were very discreet, and began attacking minor temples first, wishing to test the reactions of people and the power of the priests before moving onto anything big. As more and more of their order began dying, the most powerful of priests and priestesses used their power to erect barriers around their largest and most secluded temples. They effectively went into hiding, and allowed ninjas to have free reign over the country. Shinobi, in turn, did their best to eradicate priests from their history.

"Everything seemed to go smoothly until about 100 years ago with the reappearance of demons, most notably, the nine tailed beast demons. Lesser demons had been popping up hear and there, but the priests continued with their duties and exorcised the smaller ones from the shadows. Ninjas saw the most powerful ones as a force to try and control, not something to be feared. Powerful families tried various methods to control the beasts, and ninjutsu evolved to the point where shinobi could seal the demons away and put them under heavy guard. Priests didn't dare try and steal the sealed demons, they didn't want to draw attention to themselves again. And that eventually brings us to today."

Trying to process the information, Naruto began repeating everything he'd just heard. "So, priests outdated ninjas and could exorcise demons. About 100 years after ninjas were born, demons disappeared from the world leaving many to wonder why priests should exist. Because they were constantly butting heads, shinobi just decided to get rid of their rivals all together which forced the holy ones to go into hiding. 400 years later, demons re-emerged, but the shinobi had developed seals which could contain the demons, still making the priests useless in the people's eyes."

"In a nutshell, yes." At one point, they had gotten more tea, which Yoshi was calmly drinking.

"Where there ever any shinobi who tried to gain spiritual powers?" Naruto had hoped to pick up that information from the priest's story, but the man had been careful not to let anything of the sort slip. So, the boy decided to use a more direct approach.

"Several, but very few were able to handle both spiritual powers while following the shinobi way. As I said, the basic spirit power is Spirit Sight. Beyond the ability to see spirits, it also lets one see auras, or souls, of living creatures. For a priestess or priest who was trying to help a person, it let one see their pain and an experienced holy one could tell why the pain existed. It greatly helped in the healing process to know what was hurting someone. For a shinobi, being able to see another's soul, pain and emotions only made it clear that their enemies and targets were people. They were humans with as much happiness and pain in their lives as anyone else. A shinobi is a soldier who needs to follow orders, and much of the time they need to fight and kill. Almost all of the shinobi who gained Spirit Sight found they couldn't bring themselves to fight or kill. Many of them died on the battle field, some took their own lives for their inability to follow orders, a few gave up the shinobi way and converted to the priesthood." Yoshi could only hope that this would dissuade Naruto from any thoughts of gaining spirit powers.

The priest was sorely disappointed. "Do you think you could teach me spirit powers, sensei?" The boy knew his teacher wouldn't actually come out and offer to teach him, he was trying to dissuade him after all, so the blond decided to abandon all pretense and just ask what he wanted.

The man seemed to wince at the question, he began rubbing his forehead as he replied, "Naruto, did you understand a word I just said, or did you just become very stupid?"

"I'm not stupid sensei, I just understood what you didn't say." The man could only think, _Damn ninja training._ "You said that _almost_ everyone couldn't kill, but there were some people who could balance spirit powers with shinobi training. And I've already taken an oath to never kill unless I have to, I never plan on hurting others unless I have no choice so what's the problem." The child only stared at his teacher, waiting for his reply.

For his part, Yoshi was deliberating whether he should teach the child about spirit powers. _I've still got two more years with him, and that could be a long time if he keeps pestering me about gaining spirit powers. And he won't back down because he doesn't understand what it truly means to have spirit sight. I'll try to persuade him one more time._ "There's one other thing you need to understand about spiritual powers, little Naru. Gaining Spirit Sight lets you see the spirit realm, but it also lets spirit creatures see you. Ghosts and other beings will see you and be attracted to you as well. While most spirits are fairly benign, there are those which may try and harm you. If you want to obtain Spirit Sight, then you'll also need some defense against spirits too."

Naruto seemed to take all of it in and only said, "Ok, so when do I start learning."

Drinking the rest of his tea, Yoshi inwardly sighed, "Right now if you want." _I guess he needs to learn from experience._ "Everyone has spiritual energy, and once it reaches a certain level you gain Spirit Sight. Some peoples levels are so low that it would take fifteen years of daily training just to activate their sight, while others' levels are high enough that there born with the ability." With an appraising look, he said, "Your spirit strength is above average, so with three hours of daily training you should develop powers in about four and a half years."

"Why so long?" Naruto sounded disappointed. At times, he really acted like an impatient child, despite Yoshi's attempts to make him more mature.

With a glare, the priest answered, "You know perfectly well that it takes both time and effort to grow stronger. The less effort you put into doing something, the more time it'll take for you to grow. Its true that you could train your spirit more, but that would cut into your shinobi training." Naruto's look was fairly comical. Despite his rants about becoming Hokage, he'd forgotten that he was training to be a ninja in light of learning something new. At times, Yoshi worried about the blond's future and this was one of those times. "Sprit training for three hours a day is best because you still need to sleep seven to eight hours, spend a few hours on meals, train for about eight hours each day, and spend about three hours studying or relaxing."

Even Naruto had to agree with that schedule. While he thought gaining spirit powers would be useful, the boy's goal was to become a shinobi so he wanted to focus on physical training while making spirit training a minor concern. Yoshi got up from the table and instructed Naruto to follow him into the sitting room. Once there, he told the blond to sit cross-legged and then explained the training to the boy. "Now Naruto, I'm going to teach you a meditation technique which will help you increase your own spirit powers. It is the most effective means to train one's spirit, every priest or priestess which has ever lived has trained using this technique.

Being his curious self, Naruto asked a question. "Sensei, you said this was '**a** meditation technique' so does that mean there are other types of meditation as well?"

With a smile, the man replied, "Yes Naruto. There are various forms of meditation, used for different purposes. Some focus the mind while others simply relax the body. This one is effective for becoming aware of your spiritual strength and increasing it. Now, in order to meditate you need a proper level of focus and a correct state-of-mind. The easiest way to achieve that is to learn specific chants and to focus solely on those words." Yoshi proceeded to teach his student the meditational chant, and like with his taijutsu, he hounded the boy until he could chant perfectly.

Even with a perfect chant, Naruto still wasn't able to enter into a meditational trance. It wasn't for a lack of trying either, he chanted for half an hour without feeling anything different and according to Yoshi, he'd know when he got it right. Getting fed up with it, he lashed out at his teacher. "This isn't working, Sensei. There's got to be a trick to it."

With a knowing smile, the man simply explained, "No Naruto. There's no trick or anything else to learn, the only thing you lack is focus. Currently, your mind keeps wandering. You think about how boring the exercise is, you wonder if its actual working. With those thoughts in you mind, you'll never achieve your meditative state.

"Words are far more powerful then most people give them credit for, little Naru. Words are vocalized thoughts and thoughts make up a person's reality. If a person thinks they're weak, then they become weak. If they truly think their life is bad, then it doesn't matter how wonderful their life actual is, their life will be miserable. And words are the vocalized form of those thoughts, one cannot use words unless they're able to think first. Words can affect not only yourself, but other people too."

With a serious look on his face, Yoshi kneeled before his student, grasped his shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes. "Focus solely on the words, Naruto. How they sound, how they make you feel, think only of them. Don't let your mind wander, don't question if its working, think and feel only the chant. Do that and you'll succeed in this training." Yoshi let go of his student, and stood again. "Continue, and focus."

So Naruto continued chanting. This time, however, the blond closed his eyes and didn't move at all. Any time a different thought tried to enter his mind, he pushed it back and kept his chant going. After five more minutes the child fell silent and Yoshi smiled while leaving the room. He could tell that this wasn't the silence of sleep or boredom, but the silence of success.

* * *

Naruto didn't know how to describe it. It was like he was now aware of himself, more then he'd been before. Like there'd always been something within himself he knew was there, but could now actually feel it. The majority of his mind was focused on the words and his chanting, but it was like a back corner of him mind was reserved for observing what was happening to himself.

If he had to describe his spirit energy, he'd say it was some inner flame. It was bright and burning happily, strong but currently small. However, his meditation and chanting was like a fuel for the fire, making it grow larger and shine brighter. In the corner of his mind, he understood that the chants were nothing more then tools used to help focus his mind. He could enter this state without chanting, but it would be much more difficult to focus with just thoughts and no vocal aspect.

'Looking' down at his soul, Naruto could tell he like it, but there was something strange. It was as if something was under his spirit, something which was bound within his own body and kept caged. Naruto didn't understand, but it seemed like there was a second soul within his body and it was a lot more powerful then his own. In fact, it seemed to be feeding his spirit powers just like his chants were. When he looked at it on a larger scale, he could feel that the power wasn't just slowing increasing his spirit power, but also his physical power too. That only confused the child. _What kind of soul is that? What sort of spirit creature could effect my body as well as my soul like that?_ He reached out to 'touch' the other power, but didn't like what he found. It was dark, malevolent, he might go as far as calling it evil.

"_Naruto. You need to stop and get some sleep."_

_Huh?_ The blond could feel himself slipping out of the trance.

"_Naruto."_

And just like that, the boy was aware of his body again. It was fairly disorienting, being within your own mind and soul then to be back in your body again. Yoshi was standing over the boy smiling, but that was quickly changed to worry as the child's body began responding to his emotions. Naruto's body began shaking and his eyes began watering, the priest was concerned enough to finally ask, "Naruto, what's wrong?"

"S-Sensei…" Yoshi had never herd the blond so afraid that he had trouble speaking. He couldn't understand what could be wrong, all he'd done was a simple meditation. He was surprised he'd actually gotten the exercise down, focus wasn't really the child's strongest point, but the trance shouldn't have done any harm. It was just a meditation which let a person become aware of his spirit power and, to a degree, his soul… "Wh-What do I have inside me? What am I?"

_Shit! Damn It! I forgot about the demon in him._ It made him feel like an idiot for overlooking something that enormous, but he felt it was understandable. He'd been living with and training the boy for the past two years, it'd been easy to get used to the child's other inhabitant. At first he'd dwelled on the demon, but over time he'd focused on the child and not the tenant. It had gotten to the point where even though his Spirit Sight could see the demon, he just ignored it.

Now, however, Naruto knew there was something else in him and if the priest didn't explain it then who knew what damage that knowledge could have on the boy's mind. "I'll answer your second question first, Naruto." He reached down and gently put his hand on the boy's shoulder, hoping that the physical contact would help the child. "To put it bluntly, you're you, little Naru." The boy gave his teacher an angry look, and the man continued. "You're the same person you were this morning, the same you've been your entire life. You're an annoying, nine-year old human who likes to eat ramen and train. You're a curious young boy named Naruto Uzumaki, and you are the jailer of the nine-tailed demon fox Kyubi." It was the most important part that Naruto needed to understand, that he wasn't just a demon carrier but also a human. The same human he's always been, but now he was more aware of himself.

Shock was written over Naruto's face as he replied, "The demon fox? But you said the Fourth killed the demon fox."

"No Naruto, all I said was that the fourth defeated the demon fox, I never once said that the demon had been killed. In fact, the most any jutsu can do to a demon is seal it away. And that's what the Fourth Hokage did, he gave his life to seal the demon away so it could never harm anyone again. He sealed the demon into a newborn child to make the binding as strong as possible."

"What do you mean, 'as strong as possible'?" The child's curiosity seemed to be displacing some of his fear, which was what Yoshi was hoping for.

"A seal in an object might hold a demon for a few years, but without anywhere for the creatures energy to go the seal will eventually shatter from the pressure. An animal could make a long lasting seal, but without a mind and will to guide the creature the demon could easily gain control of it. The best way for a ninja to seal a demon is in a human because a human has chakra pathways for excess demonic power to filter into as well as a mind and will to stop the demon from taking over. Unfortunately, a demon can't be sealed into an adult because their chakra pathways and bodies have already settled, trying to introduce a foreign entity like a demon into a body like that would only kill a person without harming the demon at all. The body of a newborn baby, even an unborn baby in the womb, is malleable and can adapt to the demon fairly easily."

Naruto looked down from his teacher's eyes and connected the dots. "I was born on the day of the Kyubi attack, so the Fourth sealed the demon into me when I was just born, right?"

Nodding his head, Yoshi answered, "It is the only way to explain the demonic soul which is trapped in your body, Naruto."

Remembering the conversation they'd had a year before, the boy said, "Is that why the people of Konoha hate me? Because of the demon I have inside me?" Bitterly, Naruto recalled 'demon brat' shouted at him almost daily back home.

"Yes Naruto. Some of those people probably lost family members to the Kyubi attack and couldn't let go of their anger. The demon fox was gone, but it was easy for them to transfer their anger to a child who couldn't talk back or defend himself. Others were probably afraid that the mind of a baby would be influenced by the demon, that the child would become the demon itself." It was difficult to explain cruelty to a child, but Yoshi thought he deserved to know the truth.

"I was hated and beaten for something that I couldn't control, for something that I never did?" It was the inescapable truth which Naruto seemed to instinctively know. That the people of Konoha were the ones at fault, and that the blond never deserved the beatings that he got. It didn't bode well for the boy's future involvement in the village, but it meant wonders for the child's mental stability. Yoshi didn't actually care if Naruto became a ninja, what he wanted was for the boy to grow and mature into a good and stable adult. Despite his bravo about not giving up, the priest didn't know if Naruto would return to the leaf village after this revelation.

"Yes Naruto. What those people did was inexcusable and cruel. I was going to wait another two years to tell you about the demon, but I also understand that there are no coincidences in this world. You were suppose to find out about the demon today, and now you have another choice to make." Naruto looked at his teachers eyes as he continued. "Though you said you'd return to Konoha and earn everyone's respect, I doubt anyone would be angry if you never returned to the village. If you wish, I can continue to train you until you can defend yourself against high level ninja, then you can simply travel by yourself, away from the village."

Naruto was silent for a minuet, before he clenched his hands and looked at his teacher with pure determination. "I'll never back down from becoming Hokage. I knew that it wasn't fair or right of those bastards to hurt me, and knowing the why behind it won't change my mind. I'll gain everyone's respect no matter what the reason for their hate is."

With an amused look, Yoshi replied, "If after all that you don't change your mind, then I doubt anything will stop you from reaching your goal. Tomorrow its back to lessons as usual, little Naru. Get some sleep and be ready." The priest tried to leave the room, but Naruto stopped him.

"Sensei, don't I get to meditate more? I thought you said I should meditate for three hours a day."

"I let you meditate for three and a half hours brat." Seeing the disbelieving look on his student's face, Yoshi decided to prove just how late it was. His words had conviction but they also sounded slightly pained. "Naruto, look out the window."

The boy did turn to look, but found it completely black outside. _What? It was late, but it shouldn't have been dark for another hour or so, and that includes the half hour I spent when I first tried to meditate._

The priest decided to elaborate for his student, despite how fun it was to watch his confused state. "Your meditation was too deep, and you lost track of your physical self and, consequently, real time as well. With nearly all of your consciousness on your soul its easy to loose track of time. I did it myself when I first began meditating. It takes some time to meditate effectively while keeping track of your physical body. If I had been an enemy ninja, I could have easily killed you while you meditated and you might never have know. Hell, you could kill yourself by loosing track of time and not eating or drinking anything for days on end."

Naruto couldn't help but think the old man was right. Three hours of meditating that intensely felt like only a few minutes. A few hours in that level of meditation could easily be a few weeks in real time, and a few weeks without water would be deadly.

With his smile in place, the man said, "Don't worry. I'll look after you until you perfect your meditation. As a ninja you have to be aware of your surroundings, so you won't be able to advance as fast as someone in a safer environment. Now, get some sleep and be ready for tomorrow's activities." With that the man left the room leaving Naruto to his thoughts.

Strangely, the boy was fairly calm despite the day's revelations. _It must be from the surprise about meditation time._ Getting up, he found his body was stiff from sitting in one position for so long. After stretching, he wandered into bed and was actually able to sleep after just one hour.

**(TBC)**

* * *

**A/N**: I don't know when I'll have my next cliff-hanger, but another one will pop up eventually.

The only sources I have for Naruto are the manga and online sites like Wiki and Naruto Central. I don't watch the anime so I don't know if they ever discussed priests or temples, but I did catch a glimpse of one episode where they were having some race at a temple of sorts. However, in the manga story line Tsunade accepting the title of Hokage is followed immediately by Sauske's defection. The anime story arcs which exist in between those events do not occur in the manga, so I don't know and won't include anything from those events. Since the manga never seemed to have any temples, priestesses or priests I've taken that to mean that they don't exist or are kept hidden from the world.

I know that the origins of ninjutsu was discussed somewhere in the manga, but I don't know **when** it first started. I started reading the online manga when Sauske began fighting Itachi, so the farthest back I know of history is when Madara recounts his experience from 80 years ago. I figured 600 years is enough time for ninjutsu to develop into various styles for different families and for bloodline abilities to form.

Next time, Naruto learns more jutsu and will probably return to Konoha.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclamer:** I don't own Naruto nor any characters or abilities created by Masashi Kishimoto. Original characters, abilities and bloodlines in this story (there will be) are mine. If someone out there thinks an ability or character of mine is cool and wishes to use it, feel free. I only ask that you give me credit.

**Date:** 06/06/08

**Summary:** While running from an angry mob on his birthday, seven-year-old Naruto finds himself in a strange land where a shinobi turned priest offers to train him as a ninja. Naruto eventually discovers there is more to the world then just shinobi when he unlocks his spiritual power. Not a super Naruto fic (I hate those ones) but more of a smart and wise naruto fic.

**Reviews:** Please review. I enjoy reviews, even if its only one or two words. I do not appreciate flames. If you don't like this story, its concept, or my writing style then don't read it. Don't read it then complain to me about it.

Spiritual Fox  
Chapter 6: Light and Dark

Naruto's training only increased after he learned spirit meditation. It had taken the boy a week to perfect his meditation, now he could easily enter his trance while staying aware of his surroundings and time. As Yoshi had predicted, it had drastically reduced the effectiveness of the meditation, but beggars couldn't be choosers. As a ninja, he needed to stay aware of his surroundings for fear of an attack so spirit training would progress slowly.

Physical training was the same but he was still becoming stronger through his practices. Shuriken and Kunai throwing had progressed to Naruto trying to hit a moving target, namely, his sensei. Whether or not he actually wanted to hurt the man (some days he did) was proven to be irrelevant because he was aiming at shadow clones, not the real body. It was proving difficult to even hit a running target which wasn't even defending himself, because he needed to anticipate the man's body movements and attack accordingly.

As part of his taijutsu, Yoshi had been having sparing matches with the boy, but it was difficult for Naruto to perfect his skills without someone his own level to fight against. Yoshi did his best to help, but it was difficult to overcome his own training and leave openings which normal opponents would have given. It was also extremely difficult for Naruto to learn how to read his opponent and anticipate attacks when the priest had trained his hardest to be unreadable. It was near impossible to overcome a lifetime of training and make his moves readable, so all the man could do was give Naruto the theory and try to work on making his own moves less predictable.

It was another four months before Yoshi taught the blond another jutsu, during which the priest had been focusing on other aspects of being a ninja, specifically trap making and escaping. The trap making part of the exercises was simple for the blond, he was only learning more advanced traps which could be used on humans. In a slightly sadistic twist, after Naruto had made his traps the priest instructed him to actually be caught in his own work to experience being trapped and practice escape techniques. However, the boy had never actually been caught in a trap before, so he was finding just how difficult it was to escape from some of the devices he'd been creating.

The fact that he was able to free himself only proved that someone else could escape as well, which lead Naruto to try modifying his traps and bindings so that he himself couldn't escape. With Yoshi's help, the blond was able to find flaws in his works and correct those flaws. By the end of the four months, the boy was able to see weaknesses in his traps with little to no guidance from his teacher. Needless to say, the man felt a rush of pride at that.

Then came the next jutsu. The two were standing out in the training field when Yoshi began telling the boy about the new technique. "All right Naruto, as a reward for completing the trapping and escaping drills, I'm going to teach you a new jutsu."

The blond was ecstatic. No matter what humility Yoshi tried to teach him, Naruto always got stoked when he learned ninjutsu. It was good for development, but only if he didn't go overboard with his excitement. "What'll you teach me this time sensei?" He was overflowing with anticipation.

"Its an attack jutsu." Naruto let out a squeal of joy as he leapt while thrusting his hand into the air. It was his first attack jutsu, what he'd been waiting for his whole life. "Watch and learn young one." Yoshi approached a tree on the side of the grounds and his hands flew through signs while he took a breath. He completed his signs and expelled, what Naruto described as, a transparent sphere which sped toward the tree. It didn't look too spectacular, but then it hit the target and the blond's opinion changed drastically. The sphere hit and shredded the tree, the damage was worst where the jutsu directly struck but beyond that it just scratch the tree. The deepest scrapes were right around the edges of the sphere and they spread outward quickly becoming nothing. Despite it not being flashy, the boy couldn't deny the results, the direct hit had torn apart a small section of the tree.

Turning back to his student, Yoshi began explaining the technique. "It's a wind jutsu which launches a blast of concentrated wind energy that pulverizes a target. It is called Wind Burst, not a very creative or original name, but it works."

Naruto was too worked up and finally shouted, "I don't care what its called, just teach me the attack!" The boy's entire body just screamed excitement, his fists were clenched and eyes had a hungry look to them.

With a smile, the priest replied, "All right, short stuff. No need to be speedy about this."

It took Naruto a month to learn Wind Burst. He spent a week getting the jutsu to actually work, then the rest of the time working on his aim and altering the strength of the technique. After he mastered Wind Burst, Yoshi spent another month teaching him Wind Blast, a variation of Wind Burst. It was a shockwave technique which was difficult to dodge due to the large area it covered. However, because it covered a large area, it only had the strength to knock the breath out of someone. It was a trade off, Wind Burst was a lethal attack but easily dodged while Wind Blast was difficult to evade but non-lethal.

During that two month span Yoshi had given his student a book on various Kekkei Genkai which existed or had existed at one point. The priest had assumed Naruto would be ecstatic to learn more about the shinobi world and the child did not disappoint. By then, he understood that the more he learned about enemies the better chance he had against them.

The kid was amazed by the various Bloodline Abilities which existed. Sharingan, Imitation, Bone Pulse, Ice Element, Byakugan, Signless, the list went on. Even if half of the Bloodline Abilities were extinct, it just showed how varied jutsus could be and it could only help him to know something about the various techniques. The book didn't go into much detail about the Kekkei Genkai, but it did give some basic understanding of the abilities. Some of them were labeled as so powerful or useful that they had long since been eradicated from the world.

After that, Naruto spent another three months intimately learning the basics of Genjutsu. He couldn't actually use Genjutsu, his control was horrible after all, but Yoshi decided to at least show him how to defend against the hallucinations. However, that kind of defense could only be learned through practice which meant sessions consisted of Yoshi casting low level Genjutsu on his student and letting Naruto struggle until he could stop his chakra flow enough to break the technique.

At first it was pitiful due to the boy's lack of control, but he learned from experience and with hard work he eventually got the task down. By the time they were though, Naruto could break out of a low level Genjutsu almost immediately. Higher and fast acting stuff would take time and training to free himself, but the boy had the basics down so Yoshi moved on to teaching the blond another jutsu. This one unlike anything seen before.

They were inside the Training Hall to learn this one, which told Naruto that it wouldn't be an attack jutsu. While they were both sitting in the building, the priest began with a lecture, but it wasn't the normal one he got before he was taught a jutsu. "All right Naruto, I'm going to teach you a new jutsu, but it is far different from anything I've shown you before. So different that I'll need to give you a short history lesson before we begin." The blond consented with a nod, but he wasn't happy about it. He was in jutsu mode, and that mode didn't like sitting around learning history. Yoshi continued, "A long time ago there was a powerful ninja who converted to being a priest."

"Just like you sensei," the boy commented.

With his smile in place, the man replied, "Yes Naruto, exactly like me. This man quickly gained spirit strength and control, but he was curious soul. He wanted to try using Spirit Energy in a way never seen before. According to him, to use spirit energy one needed a not only the spirit but also the mind as well, meaning manipulated spirit energy was a combination of both spiritual and mental energy. As you've learned, chakra is formed by combining physical and mental energy. The man theorized that it was possible to combine the two energies using the shared mental aspect as a median, and after working for years he was able to accomplish his goal."

Naruto was stunned, he'd never even though about trying to do something like that. He'd read about some spirit techniques and had wanted to learn to manipulate his spirit energy to use them, but he'd never though of trying to combine chakra and spirit energy together. The man had paused to give his student some time to digest the information and then continued.

"The result was a group of ninjutsu which used two different element then before, Light and Darkness. The attacks and defenses of these ninjutsu require much power, both spiritual and physical, but they have the ability to work against demons and human alike. Its not as effective against demons as a pure spirit attack, but they work better then regular ninjutsu."

The blond was excited and he wanted to learn more. "What was his name sensei? I wana know more about him."

"Unfortunately there was no name on the jutsu scrolls, and he was secretive about his work so who ever it was never told anyone what he had done. There were too many different ninja priests in the past, so it was impossible to narrow the name down. Besides, whoever it was who made the scrolls is unimportant, what matters is that the techniques exist and I know them." Naruto could understand that, if it could take years to simply discover someone's name, then it really wasn't worth it. There were tons of techniques who's creator had been lost to time, that were so old that nobody knew who first made them.

"That's too bad, but I do want to learn what I can. You'll be teaching me the techniques then?" Just saying the words filled Naruto with anticipation.

"Yes little Naru, but don't get your hopes too high. In order to use these techniques you'll need to have a proper level of spirit strength. If you lack that power then you run the risk of damaging or even destroying your soul. Without a proper level of chakra, some jutsu can even kill you for attempting to use them. That's why teachers exist, to help judge if you have the power and skill to use a jutsu. It's also the reason why experiments are only done by powerful shinobi, they have the power and experience to handle most things that could go wrong.

"For now, I'll teach you one, maybe two techniques that use chakra and spirit energy. Your not ready for any attacks yet, but you'll reach it given time. With your current level of power, you should be able to get this down." He made a few hand signs, added a slight amount of spirit energy, and above an outstretch hand appeared a single orb of light shining happily.

Naruto only stared at the shining ball then looked back at his teacher and finally said, "Is that it?"

While he'd been expecting a reaction like this, Yoshi still couldn't help but frown and ask the his student, "What exactly were you expecting?"

While in his thinking pose the blond replied, "I dunno, but something more then that."

With narrowing eyes the priest said, "This jutsu is the weakest of the light techniques. You worked on the weakest of the normal ninjutsu before moving on to the more powerful ones, in the same matter, you'll need to work on the weakest spirit enhanced jutsu first and build up to the more powerful ones after you gain strength and experience. Also like your first jutsu, you'll find that Lighting far more useful then you initially assume."

Being his stubborn self, Naruto replied, "I still don't see how a stupid light will help me except for reading in the dark."

He knew he should've been a bigger man, but Naruto had a way of affecting the priest so instead of just telling Naruto what the jutsu could do, he decided to show him. "Naruto I want you to try to hit me." _Huh?_ "I will not move from this spot, and the only attacks I'll use against you are a straight punch and Lighting. If you hit me, you can skip Lighting and I'll treat you to ramen today." That part got the boy's attention. "If I hit you then you will learn the Jutsu without complaining."

Naruto didn't know what game his teacher was playing but he did like the odds. The blond was fast enough to probably dodge his teacher's strike, especially when the man was immobile and could only attack with a straight punch and use a small light. "All right. Look out ramen, here I come." The blond pushed his speed as far as it could go and attacked from his teacher's side. He wouldn't go for a head on attack, but he was confident that he wouldn't need a back attack. When Naruto was at arms length from the man, Yoshi completed his hand signs and raised his hand in front of Naruto's face while shutting his eyes. The boy had been expecting a nice little light orb like the man had used before, but what he got was a blindingly bright sphere which flashed before his eyes.

The blond instinctively threw his hands in front of his face to try and protect his eyes from further damage, and in that moment Yoshi struck with a straight punch to the boy's gut. Naruto was sent back a foot and landed on his ass while rubbing his eyes. The priest hadn't actually hurt the boy with either attack, he just wanted to teach his student a lesson.

"What was that flash? You cheated, damn it!" Naruto's sight was returning faster then a normal person's, but Yoshi suspected that was due to the demon fox more then anything else. An average person was usually blinded by that attack for a minute before their eyesight returned.

"I did nothing of the sort, I simply used Lighting in a different way." Naruto's eyes were starting to focus again since he could see a blurry outline of his teacher. "The first time, I used the jutsu it had a set brightness and long duration, meaning the light would only get so bright and last as long as it had chakra to fuel it. The second time the light was maximum brightness with no duration, using all the chakra at once to make as bright of a flash as possible. Because Lighting only uses a few hand, using a flash is a useful distraction during a fight." Yoshi had become mostly defined again, meaning Naruto's eyes had healed. The boy had a vague worry that there had been permanent damage but that was not the case. In any event, the priest's display had grabbed Naruto's full attention.

"It also has other purposes then in fighting. Ninja's rarely only fight, so its good to have other techniques at your command. Only a few Fire and Lightning jutsu can make light, but because they are based on fire and lightning they have limitations. It would be unwise to use fire or lightning to read an important document because something could go wrong and the jutsu could damage the papers. There are some places where you **can't** use fire and lightning, such as underwater, but you **can** use pure light without any problems."

That part got Naruto's attention. Those were points which the boy rarely though on. "This technique can be useful, but its true goal is to simply give you practice in combining spirit energy with your chakra. It's a lot harder then you'd imagine since you need to split your mind between making hand signs, manipulating chakra, and focusing spirit power all at once. You need to practice on something simple first."

Annoyed, the blond finally said, "All right, you've said that last part three times already. Just show me how to do it so we can move on." In truth, the boy was eager to learn the jutsu now that he knew how useful it could be, but his pride was holding him back slightly.

Yoshi saw right threw this, of course, but he decided not to comment. After being taught the chant to combine spirit energy with chakra, it took Naruto two weeks to get the jutsu to work by his will. As Yoshi predicted, it was difficult to divide ones self between hand signs, chakra, and spirit control. It reminded Naruto of the first time he tried manipulating his chakra to use a jutsu and how difficult it was to do something which he was now almost second nature.

Naruto also learned that he couldn't let combining spirit and chakra together become a habit because the spirit chakra didn't work with his other jutsu, as he found when he tried using it with Kage Bunshin and only produced a half dead clone.

It took another two weeks to fully master the jutsu, which meant he could make a long lasting light which he could manipulate and move by his will as well as a flash that could temporarily blind an opponent. With some experience under his belt, Naruto was able to master a Dark Jutsu, Dark Cloud, in only two weeks. In truth, it may have been easier to use then Lighting, but it required a hell of a lot more power. While Lighting only created a sphere of light, Dark Cloud created a large field which absorbed light, effectively making darkness itself. It didn't require a massive amount of control to simply summon a field which only sat there, but it did require a large amount of power.

With another two jutsu in his arsenal, Naruto began learning various other skills, such as lock picking and seal breaking which Yoshi deemed useful for any ninja to know. The whole lock picking section of time may have been outdated because most important documents had chakra seals protecting them, but not every room or item could have a seal on it. Only the most important of items or rooms could have those seals, and a ninja might have to steal anything from any where. Learning the basics of seals and lock picking took another two and a half months, which also put them both in the final year of Naruto's training time.

Naruto felt uneasy about leaving the mountain. It felt more like home then his apartment back in Konoha and despite his bravo about going back and earning respect, he really just wanted to stay with his teacher. The thought about going back to that empty apartment just sent chills down his spine. However, the boy knew he had to do it. He wanted to become Hokage, so he needed to go back to the village. Even if it mean he'd live alone for a while, he'd still get the chance to make friends at the academy so it couldn't be all bad.

Yoshi, for his part, had decided to test Naruto's memory skills with a few review lessons. He knew it would make the boy angry, but he needed to see if Naruto was retaining everything, even if it would probably piss the boy off a little.

* * *

It did piss the boy off. Horribly. He wanted to learn more techniques and become a better ninja, not go over everything he already knew. However, after the first review lesson he started to change his mind. They were going over things they hadn't covered in a year, like hunting animals and first aid. During the hunting test, the boy only barely made it through the session. He almost forgot to try covering his scent while hunting his prey, Yoshi, and had only barely caught the man who was playing the part of an animal.

He had to take some first aid classes again because he couldn't answer even half of the man's questions. The same went for ninja law and Fire Country history. Naruto spent two whole months working on relearning various materials which he'd forgotten. That's what truly angered the child, that he'd forgotten so much in the course of learning his various jutsu. Things like first aid were too useful to forget and shinobi law was probably mandatory.

The good part was that during the whole ordeal Naruto had learned a new jutsu. Well, learned wasn't exactly a good way to put it, it was more like he discovered a secret jutsu that Yoshi had no intention of telling him about. It had happened after dinner one night, he'd been in the library trying to look up various ninja laws which he'd been assigned to relearn, but he couldn't find the scroll he was looking for.

_Stupid scroll, stupid sensei, stupid brain! How could I forget something important like this, I thought I had everything down?_ His anger kept building until he finally lost control and punched the wall of the building. It wasn't enough to do any damage, so Naruto was surprised when a section of the wall just right of his punch fell out of the wall revealing a secret compartment. The opening wasn't huge, a four foot square at the most, but as the wood panel clattered to the ground Naruto looked inside of the opening to find five scrolls with strings tied around them set upright on different stands.

Being a curious kid, he reached inside the hole, grabbed one of the scrolls and untied it revealing it to be a jutsu scroll. A Spirit Jutsu since it talked about manipulating spirit energy, Naruto started drooling when he realized it was an extremely powerful **attack** spirit jutsu. Sitting down, the boy began reading everything he could about the jutsu and committing it to memory, he memorized the hand signs and read the effects of the technique with complete focus. _This is great, and since I can use spirit energy I can learn this thing._

There was a warning on the scroll, telling the reader that the jutsu required a level of spirit power equal to a master priest or priestess as well as the chakra levels of an S-class ninja. Naruto, in his rapture, overlooked that small fact and stood up to try practicing the jutsu. Before he could begin, a voice cut through his happiness like a hot knife through butter.

"Naruto." The blond froze his actions turned to the door to find Yoshi standing there and he didn't have his smile on his face. In fact, the man was looked angry as he actually scowled at his student. Even the man's voice sounded angry as he said, "What do you think you're doing, little boy?"

While hiding the scroll behind his back Naruto tried to explain, but found that he couldn't. He could feel Yoshi's anger radiating off the man and it was half paralyzing him. Naruto had never felt anything like it before, the man was usually happy or mischievous, the worst emotion had always been annoyed, but never had he been angry at his student. In that moment, Naruto knew that his sensei could be a terrible enemy if his anger got out of control.

The man stalked up to his student and thrust his hand forward, "Hand it over, Naruto." The boy was unable to stop himself from shaking as he handed over the scroll. Yoshi bent down and picked the string off the ground and asked, "How did you get the binding off of this scroll?" While talking, the man began re-wrapping the scroll with the thread.

Even if the blond had wanted to lie, he doubted he could pull it off. The anger he could feel from the man was almost too much for Naruto to talk straight while telling the truth, let alone while lying. Luckily, he didn't have to. "I just untied it. It wasn't like it was a complex knot or anything."

The priest's anger lessened as it was replaced by curiosity. After tying the knot again, he asked, "And the compartment, how did you get the panel to come loose?"

Once again, the boy was happy that a lie wasn't necessary. "I just punched the wall beside it and it came loose."

_Impossible_. If Yoshi hadn't known Naruto he would have thought the boy was lying. _But there's no way he could have intentionally broken my seals, its impossible at his current skill level._

Naruto was only confused by the priest's actions. "Sensei, what are you so upset about? I just read about a jutsu, its not like I stole something or broke a rule."

Instead of answering, the man just handed his student the scroll again while saying, "Try to open it again."

The boy took the scroll and tried to open it. Tried being the key word since he couldn't do it. It was a simple knot to undo, but it just wouldn't budge. Naruto tried to just slide string

off of the scroll, but found that it wouldn't move even an inch.

Seeing Naruto's trouble with getting binding off, Yoshi said, "Try to open one of the other scrolls Little Naru."

The blond followed his orders and took another of the four scrolls in the compartment, but found that he couldn't get the bindings off that one either. Seeing the boy struggle with one of the other scrolls, he grabbed both documents from the boy and proceeded to put them back in their resting place. The anger still hadn't left the man, but it had lessened. Enough for Naruto to demand an answer form his teacher. "Sensei, you still haven't told me why your so angry. I didn't break any rules or any, so why-"

Yoshi cut off the child with an angry answer, "I have every right to be angry when I find my student almost killing himself."

With a stunned and slightly shaky voice, Naruto replied, "W-What? It was just a jutsu. How could a jutsu almost kill me?"

While putting the panel back in place, the man replied, "Those five jutsu scrolls are five forbidden jutsu which I keep hidden under my strongest seals. They're forbidden for a reason, and that scroll you read held the most powerful Dark Jutsu ever created. It requires an S-class ninja level of chakra as well as the spirit strength of a master priest. If you try to activate it, the jutsu will forcibly draw the proper amount of chakra and spirit energy from you. If you don't have the chakra, you'll die and if you don't have the spirit energy, you're soul will be torn apart. Neither is a fate I wish for my precious student."

Naruto was completely stunned by the man's revelations. _My chakra levels may be enough, but my spirit energy is only at a novice level._ While the priest was making some hand signs over the wall while continuing, "Then there's the physical strain in just using the jutsu, that alone could kill you even with proper chakra and spirit levels. You're body's not ready to use that technique, Naruto. The first time **I** tried it, I nearly died." The blond could feel something else now. He could tell that it wasn't just anger coming off the man, it was also fear. Yoshi was afraid for Naruto, more then he was angry at him.

"I care deeply for you Naruto. If I didn't care, I would let you do anything you wanted regardless of the danger or what it would cost you. But I also know that you're your own person and I can't stop you from doing something if its what you truly want to do. The best I can do is give you warnings and try to make you understand the dangers, so I want you to promise me that you'll never attempt to use that jutsu, Naruto. I know you want to learn powerful jutsu, but that one is too powerful for you. I don't want to find you dead somewhere just because you were curious about your strength and chakra level." The man stood in front of his student and looked directly into his eyes, waiting for his answer.

Feeling the man's concern, Naruto finally said, "I promise not to use that jutsu, sensei." With a smile gracing the man's face, Yoshi began walking out of the building but he was stopped by the blond's voice. "Sensei, you said that those scrolls were sealed with your strongest seals, so how did I get past them? If they were your strongest, then shouldn't it have been impossible for me to get the scrolls?"

The man didn't turn around, but he did answer the question. "Yes, it should have. I don't understand how it could have happened, but it did happen. Nothing is impossible and there is no such thing as coincidence, there is only Hitsuzen. Even if I can't understand it, there is a meaning behind the events here tonight. I have no idea what that meaning may be or what the future has in store for you, but I'll trust you to handle it when the time come." With that, Yoshi left leaving Naruto with his thoughts about everything he learned.

* * *

After the review months were over, Naruto found his sensei had something special in store for his student. He woke up to find two packs prepared and sitting on the ground, waiting for the two of them. During breakfast, the two discussed the packs and Yoshi's future plans. The blond was slightly weary, given that the last time he'd seen a pack was when Yoshi left him in a forest for a month. The priest had something different in mind though.

"All right, today's your last day on the mountain squirt, so say goodbye because tomorrow we're leaving." That damn smile was there again and it pissed Naruto off even more then usual. Especially given the new revelation.

"I thought I had about a year left before I went back to Konoha." Naruto slammed his hand on the table while talking. He felt like he'd been cheated out of a year of training. Granted, three years was more then he'd ever wished for, but the man had promised another year. It was actually another nine months, but Yoshi thought it was close enough.

"We aren't going back to Konoha just yet, we're going to be working on a different type of training." That shut the boy up while the man continued. "You may be strong in ninjutsu and taijutsu, but there is one aspect of being a ninja which you have little training in." Naruto thought he was going to get some great genjutsu training, but he was wrong. "You need to learn how to deal with people before you go back to Konoha, and that's something you can't learn here."

_That wasn't where I assumed he was going._ "Why do I have to learn that?"

"Because you have to deal with people. You'll have superiors who'll give you orders, teammates which you'll have to work with, and clients who you'll work for. You'll need to get used to dealing with people, so the next seven months will be dedicated to traveling around elemental and learning about people and how to deal with them. Its something you can only learn through experience and you can't get that while isolating yourself on a mountain with your teacher. Seeing as how this is your last day, you won't be having your lessons today. Spend it relaxing or training, anything you want. I have everything ready so we'll leave tomorrow." Somehow, the man had finished his meal while talking and was getting up from the table to do dishes.

Naruto was only half done, so he slowly continued eating, all the while wondering on these new revelations. _I'm going to be leaving here. In nine months I'll be back in Konoha and part of their ninja program. I never thought it might be so though to leave this place, even if sensei is sadistic, even if I've had tough times here, its also been really good times too._ He was finished with his food and took the plate over to his teacher. Yoshi simply took the plate from Naruto and let the blond wander off.

When the boy decided to visit everywhere on the mountain. The library, the food house, the river, the lake, he even felt sentimental about the Training Hall. With a sudden flair of inspiration, Naruto grabbed a teleportation scroll out of the closet and headed for the running path. Even if he didn't go farther then before, he wanted to run along it once more. The trail was continually spiraling up the mountain, so he could run for days before reaching the end of it. After about an hour of running, he passed up the dagger that Yoshi had planted in the road and felt a felt a brief sense of pride that he'd become so much stronger. It was a kunai which marked his original limit, and now he'd long surpassed it.

He was running along a trail of rocks which he'd been dropping to mark where his new limit was. Naruto was able to keep moving for two hours after the kunai before his breathing started to get ragged, it was another half an hour before his legs started burning and he felt like giving up. _I can't give up just yet. I've almost beaten my record._ In another two minutes, Naruto could see the end of the rock trail and had went three steps past it to make his newest record. Instead of just placing a rock there, the boy took out a kunai and jammed it into the side of the road to mark his final run.

After resting for two minutes, the boy used his scroll to teleport back to the temple. Yoshi had a lunch of Udon ready for the boy which the two ate in silence. When they were done, they both washed dishes and Naruto took a bath to wash the sweat off of his body which he got from his run. Also because he didn't know when he'd get another chance to have a bath if they were going to be traveling.

Before dinner, Naruto read his journals and passages from various books, anything to keep his mind off of leaving. Dinner itself was a ramen meal, Yoshi had his with some sake while Naruto kept his usual tea. When asked why he was drinking sake, the priest replied, "My cute little student is taking his first steps toward his goals. It is a cause for celebration, and celebrations are a cause for sake. I could give you some sake too if wana try it. Not too much, but one cup shouldn't hurt."

Sticking to his tea, the blond declined with something different on his mind. _He's right. I'll get to join Konoha's ninjas and one day I'll become Hokage. I'll have to train hard on the road and while I'm at the academy._ Naruto was so focused on his thoughts that he didn't notice his teacher smiling his mischievous while and pouring some sake into his cup. He took his first sip of sake without even noticing, it didn't do much to the boy except prove he had a long way to go as a ninja if he couldn't notice he wasn't drinking tea anymore. Eventually they finished their meal and Naruto went straight to bed, slightly more relaxed then before.

When he woke up in the morning, Naruto found he was wearing something new. A simple necklace, nothing more then a string with a few pieces of rock attached, but it definitely wasn't around his neck when the boy first went to bed. Getting up and preparing himself for leaving, he got dressed and took off the necklace and put it in his pocket. After he ate breakfast with Yoshi, Naruto showed it to the priest and asked what it was. The man's response was, "An invitation to return here, Little Naru. That necklace is a sign that this place accepts you and gives you free passage to come here when ever you want." The man paused reached beneath his cloths to pull out a piece of jewelry just like Naruto's only a slightly different color. Putting it back beneath his shirt, Yoshi continued "You need to have on that specific necklace to return, so if we traded jewelry we couldn't come back here. Also, you can't give it to someone else and give them the ability to enter. If they're your guest and are touching you, then they'll enter, but he or she can't be wearing the necklace and expect to find their way here.

"If nothing else, its useful to make an escape against an opponent who's too powerful to beat. I thought you might get something like that, but this place can be fickle so I never know who'll be invited back." Getting up, Yoshi moved over to the packs and said. "You ready to leave, little Naru?"

The boy got up and said, "As much as I'll ever be, sensei."

"If there are any books you want to take with you, you're welcome to them. Just check with me first so I know what you're taking."

Naruto thought about it for a second before shaking his head. "I was thinking about those journals, but I'll leave them here for now. It'll be a good reason to come back sometime. I've got this necklace now, so that'll be enough." With a smile on his face, the boy put on his pack and started to head out the room. "Come one sensei, I don't want you to slow me down too much."

Returning his smile with one of his own, Yoshi replied, "All right, you brat. I'm coming." With that the two left the temple and eventually the mountain, for a while.

**(TBC)**

* * *

A/N: I may have some good idea's but I find myself to be horribly uncreative when it comes to names and making up new jutsu. Lighting and Dark Cloud are based (blatantly copied) off of Lighting and Dark Mist from Slayers (it's a good show/manga/novel damn it). I won't be using anything big from Slayers, Dragon Slave and Giga Slave, but I'll probably turn some of the smaller spells into various jutsu too.

I didn't plan too well so I ran out of things I wanted Naruto to learn from Yoshi. If I did any more I though it would make the boy too powerful for my story, so I needed to do something else. Hence, the six months of wandering over the Elemental Nations. I think its true that despite Naruto's ability to be friends with people, he needed sometime to get re-acquainted with people before showing up in Konoha again.

Next time, I'll skip straight to Naruto's Return to Konohagakure, briefly touching on some of the events of the past six months. I want to get things going, and the story won't really take off 'till Naruto's part of Team Seven and going on missions.

See you later.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclamer:** I don't own Naruto nor any characters or abilities created by Masashi Kishimoto. Original characters, abilities and bloodlines in this story (there will be) are mine. If someone out there thinks an ability or character of mine is cool and wishes to use it, feel free. I only ask that you give me credit.

**Date:** 06/14/08

**Summary:** While running from an angry mob on his birthday, seven-year-old Naruto finds himself in a strange land where a shinobi turned priest offers to train him as a ninja. Naruto eventually discovers there is more to the world then just shinobi when he unlocks his spiritual power. Not a super Naruto fic (I hate those ones) but more of a smart and wise naruto fic.

**Reviews:** Please review. I enjoy reviews, even if its only one or two words. I do not appreciate flames. If you don't like this story, its concept, or my writing style then don't read it. Don't read it then complain to me about it.

Spiritual Fox  
Chapter 7: Home for School

Naruto was back to Konoha. He stood outside the gates and prepared himself for the inevitable chaos which he was about to walk into. He understood why it had to happen though, being trained outside of the village for four years with an unknown man was a major cause for alarm. The boy fully expected to be detained and questioned, and once that was over and he was allowed back inside, he was probably going to be shadowed by ANBU until he became a genin.

Yoshi, for his part, had been understanding. He'd told Naruto just to answer honestly and, if he felt it necessary, to take the Hokage to the mountain for awhile. The ramen freak had decided not to mention that he could go back to the mountain at will, especially when he didn't know where he'd come back out. He liked the priest and he couldn't stand to have his home ransacked just to appease the minds of the village elders. If worst came to worst, they'd just lock the boy up somewhere and refuse to let him become a shinobi. In that case, he'd just go to the mountain and never return. Naruto was confident that the Old Man wouldn't let him be outright killed, so that was something positive to think about.

The priest had done more these past five months then just given him social interactions, he'd also been teaching him things which couldn't be learned on the mountain. Different plants from various areas and which to avoid, how to survive in the dessert and on snowy mountains, he'd even taken Naruto to a fishing village and gave him a lesson on boats and sailing. While traveling, Yoshi gave his student a few ninja lessons and was even kind enough to give him a chakra control exercise, the tree-walking drill. It had taken the blond two weeks to learn that exercise, but it could only help the boy to gain better control of his chakra.

Now here he was, in front of the gates to his hometown ready to go to the academy and become a ninja. Yoshi had wanted to stay with Naruto till he reached the gate, but they both felt it better if he wasn't insight. If he was with the boy, the Konoha shinobi might try to apprehend the priest, the priest would fight back and it would open a huge can of worms for his student.

Naruto had been terribly sad when Yoshi said he was going to leave, it was even worse then when he left the mountain. The best part of that place had been the blond's teacher, that the priest had looked at him and accepted him even knowing what he held inside. Yoshi seemed to understand and even gave the boy a few words of encouragement.

"There's no need to worry, little one. We'll meet again sometime. I'll contact you when you graduate from the shinobi academy."

The boy saddened slightly, "How 'bout sometime before that? You know…"

"Sorry Naruto," The man had a look of slight pity in his eyes while he answered. "but you can't rely on me all the time. You're a good kid, so I'm sure you'll make some friends at school eventually. There's no need to worry, even if I'm not around you won't be alone."

Naruto seemed resigned that he wouldn't see his teacher for a year and just let the subject drop. However, there was another matter he wanted to know about, "Are going back to the mountain, sensei?"

His happy smile back in place, Yoshi replied, "Nope, I'm going to wander aimlessly for a bit. There have been a lot of shinobi wars, and there are so many lost souls wandering about. I'm going to do what I can to help them move on." The priest ruffled his student's hair while saying, "Keep trying your best and doing what you're able, little Naru. In the end, that's all any of us are capable of. Instead of regretting what can't be helped, its better to do what one can.

"Right now, this parting can't be helped, and it saddens me as well. But right now, I'll focus on the other things I can do and I'll look forward to the day when we'll meet again." With that, the man turned to leave. His last words were, "See you later Naruto."

With a slight smile, the boy replied, "See you later Yoshi-sensei." After standing in front of the village gate, Naruto decided to just use the head-on approach and just demand to see the Hokage. The chunin gate guards had been staring at him for a while, wondering who the kid in front of them was. They'd hoped that the boy would just leave and not cause any problems, but they were sorely disappointed. "Hey, I need to speak to the Hokage, could one of you take me to him?

Guard A looked at Guard B, they could both feel that the child was going to be the source of an annoying amount of trouble. "Where are you're papers, brat." 'A' asked.

Naruto bristled at the slight insult and said, "I don't have any, and I don't want to be called 'brat' by someone like you."

'B' replied, "You can't come into the village without any papers, and what do mean 'someone like us'?"

"The old man's been expecting me for a while now, and I mean two-bit chunin who lost the draw and got stuck with gate duty."

Both guards got angry at the blond in front of them and began analyzing him. The boy looked about ten or eleven years old was wearing a dark red shirt with matching pants and sandals, he was carrying a pack which, judging by the bulges, seemed to be full of personal belongings as well as books and shinobi gear. He had bright blond hair and blue eyes, and he might have appeared nice except he looked and smelled like he hadn't had a bath for a few weeks, which was probably the case if he'd walked here as the pack indicated. His looks were also dampened by the angry frown on his face.

'A' decided to answer. "What's your name brat."

"Naruto Uzumaki, now lets go to the Hokage, squid face."

Both men stiffened at the name. The name of the demon brat who disappeared four years ago. The Hokage had told everyone on gate duty to be on the look out for an 11-year-old boy with whisker like marks on his face, answering to the name Naruto. He'd ordered everyone to immediately notify him if they found such a boy. Now here was the child, standing before them and demanding to see the Hokage.

"You know, I could have just scaled the wall and snuck in to see the old man but I decided to just be nice and approach you gate guys. Now you can't even do me the favor of taking me to see the old Hokage. You dolts better do something before I get angry, decided to knock you out and let myself in."

'A' and 'B' just looked at each other for a second. They both considered just driving the demon brat off, but if the Hokage ever found out then they'd be thrown into jail and would never get to see the light of day again. Finally, 'B' said, "I'll go report this to the Hokage, you keep an eye on this runt of a demon." The man disappeared in a swirl of leaves, and the other two people were left to look at each other.

Naruto eventually took his pack off, set it down and began rummaging through some of the side pockets. He finally pulled out a deck of cards and asked 'A', "He'll probably be a while, you wana play a few hands?" Yoshi had introduced his student to various card games in an attempt to make him more social. It helped that the boy seemed to have good luck when it came to cards.

The guard just smiled and said, "Your on, brat."

--

With everything that had gone on recently, Sarutobi needed a break. First Naruto disappeared, then only a year after that the Uchiha massacre lost them one of their best clans. Then, soon after, a new clan appeared wanting to join Konoha in exchange for medical treatment. Half the council of elders had been against it saying they just wanted to get into the village and attack from within, the other half had wanted to let them join to help increase their numbers. They eventually joined the village, but after imparting their clan weaknesses to Sarutobi and the elders while agreeing to be under indefinite ANBU watch.

Now Sarutobi was hoping and waiting for some sign that Naruto would be coming back to them with the intention of join the village. All in all, it was a stressful time. Soon, one of the chunin gate guards entered the room and announced, "Sir, there is a young boy outside claiming to be Naruto Uzumaki and is demanding to see you."

The elderly Hokage was sitting behind his desk in with his hands clasped together, now his back had straightened considerably, eyes had narrowed and his hands were clenched tightly. "Are you sure it's the boy?" If this man was lying, then he'd be handed over to Ibiki with little to no remorse.

"He matches the description, sir." The guard was happy to be telling the Hokage the good news. The intensity of the man was overwhelming, he'd hate to have to face him if the news was bad. "Blond hair, blue eyes, and whisker-like marks on his face. It could have been a henge, but there aren't many people who could copy from a description."

"Lets go see." If it **was** an imposter, then whoever it was would tortured into vegetable by Sarutobi himself.

--

Guard A, who identified himself as Masahiro Namiki, was sitting on the ground playing poker with Naruto. Masahiro thought the kid had wanted to play Go-Fish or something else, but the kid wanted to play poker, and he was good at it too. They weren't betting money or anything, but they had agreed that whoever was behind when Guard B, Masa said he was named Toya Shinomi, got back would give the winner enough money to by a bowl of ramen. That had been Naruto's suggestion, but Masahiro liked ramen too, so after showing each other they had the money to pay, they got to playing. They were betting sticks to keep track of points, and Masahiro was now regretting his decision to gamble seeing as he lost half of his pile to the boy. The next hand was no different then the other ones.

"Two pair," Masa showed his hand of two Jacks and two Nines.

Naruto got a big grin on his face and showed his cards, two Kings and two Tens. "I win."

The blond pulled the pile toward himself while humming happily. The chunin couldn't take it anymore and began shouting just as Toya and Sarutobi arrived. "You're cheating somehow, damn it!"

The new arrivals watched as the two began a shouting match. "Like hell I cheated, stop blaming me for your lack of luck. Its not my fault you got stuck with gate duty and can't play a card game!"

"Shut up you runt, I can't help it if my luck is off today."

"Excuses, excuses." Naruto countered. "The old man's here with your friend, so fork over the ramen money."

Masa, in an effort to distract the boy, turned to greet the Hokage. "Honorable Hokage, I was just entertaining the young guest before you got here."

"By ignoring your watch duties and playing poker?" Sarutobi raised an eyebrow at the man who stiffened and began sweating a little. "Well, you did loose the bet, so I guess I'll let it slide this time."

Masahiro relaxed slightly until a young voice interrupted. "Speaking of loosing, fork over the cash you cheapskate." As the chunin looked down, he saw the blond had an angry look on his face and was holding out his hand. With great reluctance, he pulled out his money and gave it to the boy. Masa looked over at the observers, the Hokage had a slight smirk as he watch the interaction while Toya was just smiling to his hearts content. Somehow, the man knew there was going to be a ton of rumors about this exchange courtesy of his gate watching friend.

Naruto began counting the bills and smiled when he was finished. "Pleasure doing business with you, Masa."

"I want a rematch sometime, you brat." The chunin growled out.

"If you want to loose your money that badly, then no problem." With a smirk, the boy walked away from the fuming gate guard and approached the Hokage. "Hey there, old man. How's life been for ya?"

The display he'd just witnessed convinced The Third that this boy was Naruto. It wasn't just the looks, it was also the quick temper, the complete lack of respect, and the love for ramen. Smiling, Sarutobi replied, "As well as expected. We need to talk, Naruto, please come to my office. With that, the old man left and Naruto followed, waving goodbye to the gate guards. As they walked through the village, Naruto couldn't find much that changed in his time away, which was good for him since it meant the ins and outs of the streets were the same.

Eventually, the duo reached the Hokage tower, as well as the old man's office, and Sarutobi was staring at the blond demanding to know everything that had happened since the boy had left Konoha. Naruto had been expecting something of the sort and began his longwinded story. He told the old man everything, the chase, the fog, the mountain, the meeting, nothing was spared. Sarutobi was interested in the training the boy had undergone, and Naruto had shown him examples of his shuriken and kunai abilities while talking. The old man looked like he was going to throw a fit when Naruto told him about his month long survival training, and when the boy had told him about his last nine months of with the priest the Third decided to send ANBU after the man and also a few to backtrack Naruto's trail in hopes of finding that mountain's location.

Naruto had told the old man about the jutsu he'd learned, but neglected to talk about the Light and Dark jutsu as well as the spirit training he was undergoing. Sarutobi wanted to see the blond in action, so Naruto showed him Wind Blast and Wind Burst. By the end of the whole story, Sarutobi wanted to take on Tsunade's habit and get himself horribly drunk. Instead, he told the boy, "Its good to have you back in the village. There have been some changes, the biggest being the loss of the Uchiha clan and the addition of the Ryuuza clan." The Uchiha's are gone? I thought they were one of the strongest in the village.

"Who are the Ryuuza's, old man?" Naruto asked.

Sarutobi shook his head. "Its too late to discuss it now, but maybe you'll find out on your own. Your apartment is the same as before, do you still have your key?" Naruto searched his pack before finding and pulling out his key. "Good. The place might need a little cleaning, but it should only keep you busy for a day or so. Tomorrow, I'll give you some money so you can buy some groceries, for now I'll give you these." The old Hokage handed over three ramen coupons to the Ichiraku Ramen shop. "You've probably wanted to go there since you got into the village.

Naruto grasped the tickets in his hand and finally said, "I could kiss you right now, old man." Hoisting his pack on his shoulder, the blond child said, "I'm gonna use these then get started on the cleaning." It shouldn't take long if I use Kage Bunshin to help out. I only promised not to use that technique to train, not to clean. "Its great to see you again old man, I'll see you later." _That went better then I expected. No tourture or interogation, just answering the Hokage's questions._

"Naruto, the next year of the academy starts in a week. I can enroll you in an advanced class, but only if you think you'll be able to pass the tests."

The blond saw that question for what it was and replied with a cocky smile, "Just let me know what class I'm in, old man. I still need to become a genin if I want to be the next Hokage and take your job away from you." With that the boy left and the Hokage had felt a rush of happiness. It seemed that whoever this Yoshi character was, he'd been telling the truth, Naruto didn't seem to be a spy nor was he hurt in any way. Sarutobi would have know if the boy had been lying, and while the child seemed to have left a few things out he'd been telling the truth when he said he wanted to become Hokage.

* * *

After a short stop at Ichiraku Ramen, which was completely delicious plus old man Teuchi and Ayame were thrilled to see their favorite customer again, the boy got to his old apartment and began cleaning. With the help of his Shadow Clones, Naruto cleaned everything, bedroom, bathroom, windows, floors, kitchen, stove, fridge (it was empty, there were no perishables in the house, the old man took them out when he learned Naruto wouldn't be there for a while). All in all, the cleaning of the whole apartment took no more then an hour, after which Naruto took a shower to get himself clean and also created a Kage Bunshin to take his cloths and bed sheets to a laundry mat for a good washing.

Sometimes, Naruto loved having the chakra levels of a high jonin, it was so nice to be able to make multiple Shadow Clones to help him with everyday stuff. All that cleaning would have taken him a day or two to without them. It might have been good to do the work himself, but he wanted to wander around the village for a few days and get a feel for everything again. The blond also wanted to find someplace where he could train seriously in relative privacy, he was planning on downplaying his abilities while in the academy. All that really mattered to Naruto was becoming Hokage, he really didn't care if everyone underestimated him, it could only help to win some later battles to have everyone think he was a dunce. So, he would look like a idiot during school while doing the serious training in secret.

When his shower was done, the boy began unpacking his belonging, which included his shinobi gear, the rest of his clean cloths clothing, a few books which Yoshi let him keep (including a cook book), some souvenirs from traveling, and a journal which he'd been writing in since he left the mountain. Naruto figured the old one had too much information about his training, he had written down almost everything he'd done in his last journal and if the Hokage had read it then he'd know what Naruto was keeping secret. Hence, the old book was still back in the mountain and the new one he'd been writing in didn't have any information he didn't want others to know about.

Soon, the clone was back with the laundry and sheets, everything was set and it was time for dinner, which was spent at Ichiraku ramen once again. The place was just too good for its own good, he was sorely tempted to use his skills to spy on the shop and find their secret ingredients, but decided to just let them have their way.

His last few hours were spent meditating. Naruto was able to meditate deeper then before, the safety of his home meant he didn't have to be so focused on the outside world. Even Naruto could tell, there was some sort of goal he was trying to reach with his spirit strength, and once he reached it something special would happen. Until then, he'd just have to keep meditating.

When he finally slept, it didn't take him very long succumb to the sensation. The apartment was a lot different from his room on the mountain, the mountain was silent while the apartment filled with background noise of other tenants. Luckily, the boy had been traveling in the real world and could easily fall asleep in areas with and without a bunch of noise. In truth, that was one of the reasons Yoshi had taken him on the nine-month trip, to get the boy used to the different sights and sounds of the world.

The second day back was fairly uneventful, it began with breakfast (which was a few cups of ramen he still had in the house), then moved on to wandering around the village to find what had changed. Everything was the same as before, but the boy found the Uchiha clan compound was sealed. It seemed like the old man had been telling the truth, there were no Uchiha left, only their empty compound remained. Naruto didn't feel much sadness over the loss, he didn't have any friends among the clan but there hadn't been many Uchiha who openly scorned him.

Before the blond could go exploring again, an ANBU came and told him to go see the Hokage. It wasn't like he could ignore something like that, so Naruto jogged to the tower to see what the old man wanted form him. When he got there and finally saw the Hokage, the boy found Sarutobi only wanted to give him some money for groceries, tell him that he'd be getting an allowance once again(until he became a ninja and started getting paid), as well as give him his class schedule. Apparently, his teacher was somebody named Iruka Umino.

After getting the money and thanking the old man, Naruto went to the market to buy what he needed. He got essentials: milk, eggs, ramen, spices, fruits and veggies (if Yoshi came by and saw he hadn't been eating greens then he'd get it for sure), more ramen, meat, rice, everything to make his own ramen. Cups of ramen worked fine and Ichiraku ramen was delicious, but there was just something about making his own occasionally which was just completely satifying.

When he got back to his apartment, the blond took the time to unload everything himself and eventually made himself a lunch of rice and beans topped with a small amount of veggies. It was a far smaller quantity of veggies then this teacher would have given him, but it was something. Eventually he finished lunch and went back to exploring the village. Everywhere he went he encountered hate full glares from the towns people, it bother him but not as much as it did before. There was one section of the village which was new to the blond, and it was one place where he **wasn't** looked at with distain, the section of the new Ryuuza clan. After the Kyuubi attack, many people had died and that left many houses empty. The survivors all moved into houses toward the center of the village for comfort and safety, leaving the outskirts of the village empty. Apparently this new clan of about 50 fully trained shinobi, some retired ninja, the occasional civilian and some kids, decided to occupy the some of the buildings in the empty outer village. The off duty ninja Naruto could find were wearing standard Konoha shinobi gear complete with the Leaf headband and the backs of their shirts held their clan symbol. It was the silhouette of three fingered lizard claw, probably a dragon claw if the name ment anything.

When he went wandering through this newly inhabited section, he found that most people didn't take any notice of him, let alone look at him hatefully. It made sense, Sarutobi had made a law preventing anyone from talking about the Kyuubi being sealed inside of him. All the adults knew because they'd been around during the sealing, but they couldn't talk so this new clan would have no knowledge of the fox sealed inside of him. All Naruto knew was that it was nice to be around people who didn't look at him with hate in their eyes.

The days went by and Naruto continued to search the village and the various training grounds. Eventually, he did find one training ground which seemed to be little used. It even had a secret entrance so the boy could enter or exit without telling anyone. He was sure the ANBU which were following him would tell the old man about it, but unless there was something special about the area he would let Naruto have his private training. And Naruto did train, he couldn't learn any new jutsu, nor could he improve his taijutsu without a sparing partner, but he could work on improving his speed, strength, stamina, and shuriken throwing.

Eventually the week passed and the academy began, but the Hokage did get a visit from Iruka about his new student. "How can you think of letting that thing into the shinobi program?" The chunin demanded. He was livid, most of the villagers had been glad that the mini-demon disappeared. Half of them hoped that the monster would stay away from the village permanently, but then it re-appeared. _Its bad enough that it's back walking around the village, but to let it become a ninja, and put it into a class in their final year! My class at that!_

Sarutobi had been expecting this. He knew Iruka to be a level headed and kind man, but there was little doubt he would have a reaction like this when he found that Naruto would be in his class. However, Naruto couldn't be switched to another class. Iruka was the only teacher Sarutobi could think of that would at least treat the child fairly and give him the grades he deserved, he might even grow to like the boy. The chunin was the best, and the best didn't just outright fail a student for no reason. The old man was confident that if Iruka didn't help Naruto to grow, he wouldn't hinder him either.

"I've told everyone multiple times and I'm telling you now, Naruto is not the Kyuubi. The two are separate creatures and should be treated as such. Naruto has been training hard to become a genin of Konohagakure, he's trained the past four years to enter the academy and pass. I trust that you will treat him like a human being and give him the grades he earns. Even if you never see him as more then the Kyuubi reborn, then you should give him the chance to become a genin like every other child." The tone in the Hokage's voice left no room for argument.

Iruka knew when he received and order, and he was being ordered to treat the demon brat like every other student and at least not sabotage the child's future. _I may not like it, but it'll only be for one year. After that I can wash my hand of him, he might fail but I can just transfer him to another class._ With a resigned air about him, the chunin said, "Fine, I swear I'll teach him and judge him accordingly. I won't fail him if he doesn't deserve it."

"That's all I can ask for." Sarutobi replied with a slight smile. Secretly he thought _That's all I can hope for_. Then the old man added. "Try to keep an open mind. Who knows, you might grow to like the boy."

_I doubt that_, Iruka thought. All he said was, "I'll take my leave now." With that the man turned and walked out of the Hokage's office, he only had a few more days to prepare himself for his class and the unwanted new arrival. Both the chunin and the Hokage knew one thing for certain, when the parent's of Iruka's class found out about this they'd throw a fit and come demanding an explanation from Iruka. The chunin in turn, would field the questions to the Hokage and the old man would deal with the future angry mob.

**(TBC)**

* * *

**A/N**: Ryuuza, according an online English to Japanese dictionary, is the Dragon Constellation Draco. It sounds cool and I have my reasons for naming them that. Details about them (history, abilities, how and why they came to Konoha) will be reveled in later chapters.

Next time, Naruto will go through school and get in trouble along the way. What is a bored student to do except make as much trouble as possible.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclamer:** I don't own Naruto nor any characters or abilities created by Masashi Kishimoto. Original characters, abilities and bloodlines in this story (there will be) are mine. If someone out there thinks an ability or character of mine is cool and wishes to use it, feel free. I only ask that you give me credit.

**Date:** 06/20/08

**Summary:** While running from an angry mob on his birthday, seven-year-old Naruto finds himself in a strange land where a shinobi turned priest offers to train him as a ninja. Naruto eventually discovers there is more to the world then just shinobi when he unlocks his spiritual power. Not a super Naruto fic (I hate those ones) but more of a smart and wise naruto fic.

**Reviews:** Please review. I enjoy reviews, even if its only one or two words. I do not appreciate flames. If you don't like this story, its concept, or my writing style then don't read it. Don't read it then complain to me about it.

Spiritual FoxChapter 08:

School was a different experience for Naruto. On the mountain he'd been the only one so when he had trouble with an exercise, Yoshi was able to help him through everything. Now he was part of a class, one of about 20 students who only had one teacher to help them. Needless to say, Naruto was glad he didn't need any help. He quickly learned that Yoshi had already taught him everything that the other students were learning.

On the first day of classes, he'd been introduced as a new addition who, due to special circumstances, had been home schooled in shinobi arts up until then. There were mixed reactions to his presence. Some of the girls thought he was cute, others thought his whisker marks were weird. The boys were divided between thinking his face scars looked tough and thinking he was too short and happy-go-lucky to be a good ninja.

Iruka surprised everyone by giving them a quiz on the first day back. It only covered things they had at the end of last year, but the rest of class knew Iruka usually gave them a day of review before having the return quiz. Before the test, Naruto overheard a couple of girls talking about it, and it only made the boy suspicious of his teacher. He hadn't missed the angry glairs which the man had sent his way, leading the blond to assume that the test was just a way to try making him fail, even if it was a conceded thought. Everything on the quiz had been covered by Yoshi, and his last sensei had ensured that he could and would remember everything he was taught, even if it didn't seem that important. It would have been easy to get a 100% on the quiz, but the blond decided to do something different to test the chunin.

After the quiz was finished, it was a short ten question quiz, regular lecture began with covering basic battle tactics. Naruto quickly lost interest in the lecture, once again it was something he'd already learned, and got out a paper and pencil to try writing out a training schedule for himself. The only thing the child could think of was that it was going to be a long year if it was going to continue like this.

After the lectures were over (Iruka had yelled at Naruto and a few other students for not paying attention), they had lunch and they moved on to practical exercises which consisted of taijutsu, shuriken and kunai throwing, taijutsu being on one day and the others being on the second day. Taijutsu lessons seemed to be the salvation of Naruto's day. It wasn't that he was learning anything new, it was that Naruto got to spar with students his own age who weren't experts like Yoshi. He got to observe others and learn to read body movements, something that Yoshi could only tell him about but never truly practice. True, the boy had to downgrade his speed and strength to match the other students, but it was worth it to get that kind of experience.

The second day happened just like Iruka, Sarutobi and even Naruto himself predicted. Most of the other students had been curious about the blond the day before, a few even invited him to have lunch with them, but almost everyone now avoided the blond. After the students had gone home, they told their families about the new blond in their class, and the parents had forbade them from mingling with the boy. There were a few students who still talked to Naruto though, Kiba Inuzuka was entering a rebellious stage and was friendly with the boy just to spite his parents. Shikamaru Nara found the blond to be interesting since his mother ordered him to stay away from the boy while his father said he didn't care if he associated with him. With Shikamaru being friendly to him, Choji Akamichi became a friend by default despite what his mother said about he boy. There was one other boy in his class who became friends with Naruto, Kazuma Ryuuza. Like most Ryuuza, the boy didn't know why everyone seemed to hate the blond, but his father hadn't said anything about it so he didn't avoid Naruto.

After everyone gave the boy the cold shoulder, Iruka handed back their corrected quizzes. Everyone was curious just how Naruto had done on the test, and everyone was surprised when they found they boy had only scored a 50%. Just one more question wrong and it would have been a fail. Even Naruto himself was surprised, he actually thought he'd get a failing grade since he was actually using the quiz to test Iruka. It would have been easy to score 100%, but Naurto wanted to know just what kind of teacher Iruka would be so he purposely scored as low as he could. If Iruka had wanted, he could've just "miscounted" or even erased just one of the blond's answers to give him a failing grade. But the man had given him his correct score, raising him up slight in the child's eyes. Unfortunately, the second day was even more boring then the first, the practical part of the day only had shuriken throwing and kunai handling so there wasn't anything new for the blond. However, as he walked home he thought, _I knew what I was getting into, so I better figure out something_.

-----

Three months later, Iruka was sitting in the teacher's lounge focusing on his newest enigma known as Naruto Uzumaki. The boy completely baffled the chunin, he skipped half the time, got poor grades, his only virtues seemed to be his taijutsu and his trick playing abilities, at least that's how Iruka used to think of the boy. When school began the teachers didn't pay attention to Naruto, none of them wanted to have anything to do with the boy. Even Iruka felt that way when they first met. However, after seeing the boy have little to no progress with most of his exercises Iruka's teaching instincts kicked in and he began looking for ways to improve the blond. One particular day Iruka made a slight discovery which began changing his viewpoint of the blond. During shuriken practice, which was one of the days Naruto usually skipped and Iruka needed to catch the blond before hand, the chunin was watching Naruto throw. He did it with all of the students who seemed to be having trouble, most poorly aimed shuriken were simply caused by bad posture and throwing techniques, but when Naruto threw his shuriken Iruka couldn't find anything to critique. His posture and handling were perfect, he didn't need any help. The problem was that Naruto still wasn't hitting the bull's eye. _Given that his handling is perfect, its either his aim is just naturally off, or…_

The blond was going to remove his shuriken but Iruka stopped him and went to remove the disks himself. As he was walking up, he looked at where the shuriken were imbedded and found the arrangement was interesting. The target had a small smudge on it and one shuriken was buried dead center, another was tangent to one of the outer rings and the third was near the center of the target. _Or his aim is perfect and he's purposefully not hitting the center._ After that, Iruka began investigating the mystery that was Naruto.

One of the things Iruka did was look back at the boy's test scores and investigate more closely. At first glace Naruto was only an idiot who was border-lining failure, but when Iruka began looking closer, he saw an interesting pattern. The boy almost never failed anything, he was always just a few points shy of failing and that wasn't normal. The other low scorers had various scores, sometimes passing and other times failing but even when they failed their results weren't consistent. The only way to get a regular score would be to intentionally **try** to get a constant grade, and given Naruto's performance on shuriken throwing Iruka didn't think it was that far-fetched an idea.

There was one thing which the blond excelled at, and that was taijutsu. Maybe he didn't want to look like a complete idiot, but the boy had become top of the class in hand to hand combat. It infuriated Sasuke and he was constantly trying to spar against Naruto so he could beat him and retain his number one spot. Unfortunately it never worked out, the boy's taijutsu was just too advanced and he couldn't be beat. Most of the other teachers were upset that the famous Uchiha had been beaten by the demon child, even Iruka had been that way, but he'd eventually come to see it as a blessing. Sasuke needed to learn that being the best **wasn't** everything in life, and that having a rival his own age could seriously help him.

While Naruto was unbeatable in taijutsu, it didn't show up in his grades because it was balanced by his poor score in ninjutsu, specifically the bunshin no jutsu. It was the one thing that the blond just couldn't get a handle on, if it really mattered he could pull off one of the other jutsu, which Iruka suspected to mean he could do them at any time, but the boy could never pull off a simple clone. What was intriguing about that fact was actually that Naruto didn't seem to care that he couldn't use bunshin, it was almost like he knew what was coming up and he didn't have to bother with it. The last time the class had been practicing the doppelganger technique, Iruka had offered to help Naruto to see what was wrong but the child had rejected the scarred chunin's help saying he "had it covered". The attitude puzzled Iruka to no end, everything about the blond was confusing. Hence the chunin's new plan, to follow the blond around and see what he could find out.

-------

For Naruto's part, he found school to be an ok experience. Even though he wasn't learning much new, it was nice to be around kids his own age and even better to make some friends even if they weren't together for the most sincere reasons. Kiba just wanted to piss off his parents, but he could be a fun guy. Shikamaru may have been a lazy lout, but he was still a good person even if a bit nosey. Choji… well he was really just Shikamaru's friend and only ate lunch with him but it was nice to have company. Sasuke might have been called a friend, but he only talked to Naruto when he wanted to fight so perhaps the term rival was better.

It was always fun to kick the bastard's ass in taijutsu practice, he was too uptight and just so focused on winning that it made the blond sick. Sure, Naruto liked to win too, but Sasuke acted like winning was everything and if he ever lost then he'd die. True, that could be the case on a shinobi mission, but this was just school, damn it! Naruto had considered just loosing on purpose to the Uchiha, but the man had been too smug and arrogant for Naruto to let himself be beat, even if it did mark him as the enemy of half the female population in the class and possibly the whole school as well.

Of course, there was always Kazuma. He'd been Sasuke's main rival and second in taijutsu, but even after Naruto bumped him down to third he didn't hold it against him. He seemed to think it hilarious that Sasuke had been knocked off his thrown and it only helped to cement a friendship with Naruto. The blond would call the Ryuuza a true friend, his parents hadn't forbidden him from talking to the Jinchuriki so he quickly became a close companion. The boy was slightly taller then Naruto and had black hair. His greenish eyes and slight build gave him an attractive face, but he still lost out to Sasuke in the fan department. If things had worked out differently, then the Uchiha might have become friends with Kazuma since their situations where horrible similar. They were both second sons of the clan head, both their older brothers had been gifted geniuses and overshadowed them in everything. The only things different was that Kazu's older brother, Haruko, was only 3 years older and hadn't killed the rest of his clan. However, Sasuke had rebuffed Kazuma's offer of friendship and ignored him, Naruto was a different story.

The blond like his raven haired companion. They actually got together outside of school and did stuff. They talked, practiced together, discussed which girls they liked (Naruto liked Sakura while Kazu had a thing for Ino), they went to each others house and had meals together once in a while (Kazuma had been surprised when he found Naurto was an orphan and lived alone), the Ryuuza had even told Naruto about his clan history and the details about how they joined Konoha.

They were both eating dinner at Naruto's place, the blond made Udon for a change, when the Jinchuriki had just blurted out the question. "Hey Kazu, do you think you could tell me more about your clan?" Kazuma looked up from his stew while Naruto continued. "I've heard a little, but I don't know that much. Can you give me any details?"

The raven haired child ate some more stew before replying, "Sure, I can tell you. You want me to start from the beginnings of the clan?" 'Nod' "All right, I don't think there's a lot to tell, the Ryuuza started out just like any other clan. They wanted to be unique so they focused on becoming Chakra Element Masters. Every Ryuuza is taught chakra control exercises when they're young and learn to master their chakra element by the time there 15." Naruto had already heard this part, hell Kazuma had shown him his Wind Chakra back when they first became friends. "When clans began working as mercenaries, the Ryuuza hid themselves and were forgotten by most clans. Even when the fighting stopped and the Hidden Villages began appearing the clan didn't align themselves with anyone.

"Then about four years ago a disease began spreading through our clan. It was a horrible sickness which caused a slow and painful death. More and more people began dying, even my own mother fell before it. After about a year with no survivors, my father put forth the idea of joining a ninja village to gain their support. Half the people were for the idea while the other half still thought we could beat the disease without outside help."

Kazuma's face looked more and more troubled as he continued. "Then dad got sick and everything took a turn for the worse. As the head, he was the driving force for the side which wanted to get aid. If he hadn't survived then my uncle Kozue, who was the biggest supporter for saying isolated, would have become head and we wouldn't be here. We would all probably be dead right now."

Naruto couldn't help but shout, "He would have just let his whole clan die out? What kind of bastard is he exactly? And if your dad survived the sickness then wouldn't that mean others could make it too?"

With a smile, Kazu replied, "Kozue isn't that bad a person, he just believed that the clan could overcome anything, even such a deadly disease. And my father didn't survive the sickness by himself, some sort of medic helped him." Seeing Naruto's confused look, the brunet went into as much detail as he could. "I really don't know that much about him. My older brother found him and brought him to treat dad, I only caught a glimpse of him and all I can remember was that he had brown hair and wore strange clothing. He was able to cure dad in a day, but he said that curing the entire clan was beyond his abilities, so when father was recovered enough he continued with his plan to join a ninja village. When most people saw that even their clan head needed help to survive the disease, everyone agreed to enroll with a village. Konoha had the reputation of having superb medics so we joined with them."

Kazuma began smiling as he continued, "The clan didn't have any time to spare, so we all went to Konoha to request their help in exchange for our strength. The Third Hokage was kind enough to send medics to teat us while the elders debated. If they hadn't let us join we probably would have simply paid for as much treatment as possible, but it would have left the clan broke. Luckily, after a few days of discussion we were able to join Konoha, but only if we agreed to be under indefinite ANBU watch and let the elders know the main weaknesses to our jutsu, Dragon's Rite."

Most of that information had been new, but the intriguing part had been the last bit. "What's the Dragon's Rite Jutsu? How does it work?"

Kazuma would only shake his head. "Sorry, but that ones a secret. Even if the village elders know, it isn't public knowledge and we want to keep it that way. All I can say is that only shinobi over 15 who've mastered their chakra element can qualify to have the Dragon's Rite used on them. In another year, my older brother will go through the jutsu and in three more years I'll get to go through it." He seemed excited to have the jutsu used on him, whatever it did.

"Does everyone in your clan go through the Dragon's Rite?" Naruto asked.

Shaking his head, Kazu replied, "No. It's a jutsu which can make one stronger but it has its drawbacks. Usually half of the clan doesn't undergo the Jutsu." After thinking for a second the boy added, "Plus it's a painful process."

"Painful? How painful?" Naruto sounded worried.

"Painful enough to destroy a weak mind. It isn't often, but sometimes a clan member can become a vegetable after they undergo Dragon's Rite." Kazuma talked like they were discussing the weather and not about a jutsu which could one day shatter his mind. Naruto was amazed by what some people considered to be "normal".

"Doesn't that bother you in some way?" Naruto had to know just how sane his friend was. It could be deadly to have a warped sense of danger.

"Nobody forces us to use the Jutsu. Hell, one of our rules is that nobody ever forces or bribes another into going through the jutsu. If somebody does then they're severely punished, and if somebody is lying about being forced then the liar gets a larger punishment."

Naruto guessed he couldn't ask for much else, but he still couldn't bring himself to like a jutsu that could one day turn his friend into a vegetable.

-----

It was three months since Iruka decided to watch Naruto more closely. The man had even followed the boy around for a week or so just to discover something new and he'd made some wonderful progress. Naruto never seemed to study. As impossible as it sounded, when Iruka had followed the blond he never once studied anything Iruka was teaching him. The fact that Naruto still got his border line scores meant the child already knew everything Iruka was trying to teach him. And Iruka knew it wasn't that the blond had a perfect memory, Iruka had made a test where over half of the questions were on subjects covered when Naruto had skipped and the boy still passed. The blond had eyed his teacher suspiciously as he was leaving, but he hadn't said anything.

Then there was the boy's secret training. Iruka had been surprised to find Naruto sneaking into an unused training field, but when he followed the blond inside he was shocked to find Naruto training at a high genin level at the very least. He also learned why the blond said he had Bunshin no Jutsu covered, it was because he could, for some god forsaken reason, use Kage Bunshin. Naruto was sparring with his shadow clones and using other for training shuriken training practice. The boy must have had an absurd amount of chakra to make that many shadow clones, even most jonin couldn't do something like that. Iruka thought the boy had been downplaying his abilities, but this wasn't what he was expecting in the least.

Soon, the chunin found himself at the Hokage's office and was discussing the blond, "Sir, I wonder if you're aware what Naruto is doing right now?"

Sarutobi looked up from his paperwork and replied, "Given the time of day, I think he's training at his training field."

Iruka couldn't hide his shock at the Hokage's words, "You know about his secret training?"

The old man just smiled at the chunin. No wonder Naruto liked playing tricks on people, it was fun to see the looks on their faces. "I've had ANBU watching him as a precaution. He was trained outside of the village for four years, even thought I trust the boy the other elders wanted him to be watched for a while. It was a reasonable and understandable request so I granted it. Nobody was using Training Ground 7 currently, so I've allowed the boy to practice there uninhibited." Sarutobi folded his hands in front of his face and asked the man, "So Iruka, it's been six months already, what do you think of the boy?"

The chunin couldn't look the Third in the eyes as he replied. "He's tricky, annoying, a prankster, but I…" Iruka liked a lot of people, he usually found it easy to admit respect and friendship with someone else. But, for some reason he couldn't admit that he liked the child.

Sarutobi seemed to understand. "Its alright to let anger go and see Naruto as something other then the demon fox. Nobody will fault you or hate you for it, Iruka. You may hate the demon fox, even I still hate that creature, but I know that Naruto is a separate entity and should be treated as such. It may be difficult, but try to see the boy as something other then the fox."

Iruka didn't say anything as he left, but the Hokage seemed to know what was going to happen.

-----

After he was done training, Naruto headed to Ichiraku for dinner. He wanted a quick meal before he began his spirit meditation, but a familiar voice called out to him. "Hey Naruto." The blond turned to find Iruka, he tensed slightly. While Naruto may have respected his teacher, he didn't consider the man to be his friend. Even if the chunin had been warming up to him over the school year the blond didn't trust the man.

"Yes Iruka-sensei?" Naruto replied.

With a smile the man asked, "Are you going to have dinner?"

It wasn't a school related question, so it only confused Naruto. With a slight amount of hesitation and confusion in his voice the boy replied, "Yes, I'm headed over to Ichiraku for some ramen."

"Do you mind if I tag along? There's something I wanted to discuss with you." Naruto was shocked at his teachers proposal, the man had never voluntarily talked to him outside of school, so it was a huge surprise to have the man ask to eat with him. _Though he did say he wanted to talk to me, so maybe it is school related._ Naruto was on the verge of declining his teacher's offer and just going home, but then Iruka sweetened the pot. "I'll buy for you."

A smile graced Naruto's face as he said, "Off to Ichiraku we go!"

Soon the two were at the ramen stand and Naruto was happily consuming his two bowls of ramen while Iruka ate his one. The chunin decided to simply ask the blond with a direct question. "Naruto, why don't you give your all in school? You could be top of the class if you did."

The academy student looked up from his bowl and said, "What are you talking about sensei? I am trying my hardest."

Iruka glared at his student and replied. "The only thing you try your hardest in is being goof off. I saw you training yourself in Ground 7, you've never done anything like that in class."

"Oh, so that was you. I thought I felt somebody watching me, but I couldn't tell who it was." Iruka continued to stare at the boy while Naruto thought of something to say. "Just because I could be top of the practical scores doesn't mean the same is true for the written tests."

"Perhaps." Iruka conceded that point but he continued, "Except you're not trying your hardest. Over the past few months you've never scored above or below a 50%, the only way to get a constant score like that is to try and get a steady grade."

_Crap. I should have varied my grade a little, at least between 50 and 60%._

Naruto didn't know what he could say to cover himself, so he decided on the truth. "I had two reasons actually. Ninjas are suppose to be a creatures of mystery, who hide what they can do in order to surprise their enemies. The only people they're ever fully honest with are their superiors and themselves. Given that much is true, what's wrong with letting everyone think I'm some doofus and underestimating me?"

Iruka had to admit that it was a logical argument. "And the second reason?"

"I wanted to see what kind of teacher you were." That caught the chunin's attention more then anything. "At the start of the school, it was clear you didn't like me and wanted me out of your class. I wanted to know if you were the type to just fail a student you didn't like. Luckily for me you weren't that type of person and you always gave me what I earned. I like you for at least doing that. And you seem to have lighten up over the past few months so that's good too."

Personally, Iruka knew that it wasn't luck that put the boy into his class. The Hokage knew that Iruka was probably the only teacher who would treat the boy with any amount of fairness. He also knew that Iruka was probably the only teacher who might grow to like Naruto. While Iruka was thinking, Naruto finished his noodles. The chunin was only half done with his food, and the man wondered how the blond could eat while talking at the same time. _He had twice as much as me and he still finished in half the time. He was talking to, how can he eat that fast and then say he could still taste it?_

"Well, if that's it then I'm going to head home sensei." The blond turned to leave but he was stopped by Iruka's voice.

"Naruto, try to raise your grades a little." The boy turned to give his teacher a look that just said 'Why should I?' Then with a smile Iruka added, "If you do I'll buy you ramen again."

Naruto looked slightly surprised but then his expression changed to a smile. It was different then his normal mischievous smile, it looked more relaxed and normal and he replied "I'll see what I can do sensei." With that the boy left in a lighter mood then normal.

-----

The rest of the school year proceeded as normal for Naruto. He raised his grades slightly so Iruka would take him out for ramen once in a while, trained in secret, hung out with Kazuma and the others, and when he was bored (which was frequently) he pranked people who were mean to him. Somewhere along the way he made met up with Toya and Masahiro and struck up another friendship with the older men. It usually consisted of the three of them playing cards or some other game and the looser buying dinner for everyone, but they all had a good time (especially since Naruto usually won three times out of four). Iruka joined them sometimes, he was on good terms with the other chunin, and once Kazu joined them for a game.

Naruto's relationship with the Ryuuza deepened, he'd gone over to the boy's house a few times to have dinner. There the blond had met his friend's father Akira once, he'd been friendly but not overly friendly. Naruto had also met Kazuma's older brother Haruko, whom Naruto would easily describe as excessively friendly. They met the first day Naruto went to Kazu's house, the two had just walked into the door when they were both stopped by a loud and commanding voice. Naruto was curious about the speaker while Kazuma stopped dead in his tracks. "Welcome home dear younger brother, how was your time at the academy? But of course, it was a time of great learning and growth. How else could time at that noble building be spent?"

The blond was surprised to find his friend sweating slightly while giving the man in front of them a very forced smile. "H-Haruko, I thought you had an overnight mission today?"

The teen in front of them had black hair just like his younger brother, but that seemed to be where the similarities ended. Kazuma had a masculine and handsome look about him and he was only 11. Haruko was just the opposite, he stood about a foot taller then his brother and had hair that fell slightly past his shoulders (Kazu's was short and spiky) and had a fairly feminine and "pretty" face. He also seemed to scream confidence and arrogance, it was like it was part of his very existence. In a flash, the boy who was standing in the kitchen doorway was hugging his younger brother's head to his chest. Kazu, for his part, was trying to dislodge himself from his brother's grasp. "Oh younger brother, you were so worried that you wouldn't see me for another day. Such a confession fills my heart with joy and only serves to deepen our brotherly bond of love. We must celebrate this deepening with a delicious plate of fried rice with vegetables."

"Umm, Kazu, are you all right?" Naruto asked.

Haruko's head turned to the blond and the teen look at him like he didn't even know there was some else present. "Oh my, do we have a thief or a spy in the house?"

Kazu was able to wrench his head from his brother's grasp and just said. "Of course not. This is Naruto Uzumaki, he's a friend from school." He turned to Naruto and said, "This is my older brother, Haruko Ryuuza.

If possible, the teen seemed to light up even brighter as he said, "Ah, a companion from school. Its so nice to finally meet one of Kazu's friends." Turning to his brother, he asked, "So, is this the blond love interest you told me about?"

"I TOLD YOU I LIKED A BLOND **GIRL**, NOT A BLOND BOY!" Kazuma shrieked.

Haru seemed un-phased by his brother's shout as he replied. "It would be understandable if you didn't judge your friend's gender correctly. I myself have many people who mistake me for a woman, yet I do not take offense when it happens. Surely if he is your friend he will understand your confusion and accept your feelings, now confess to your friend. I, who am number one in his affection for his brother, will not think lesser of you for having a male lover."

Naruto didn't know what was going on, but he did understand the look that his friend had. It practically screamed, "For gods sake, help me stop him, damn it."

Given he didn't like the way the conversation was going, Naruto did something to hopefully end the situation. "Actually he already confessed to me Haruko, but I turned down his advances." Kazu glanced at his brother waiting for his response.

"Poor little brother, having his feelings rejected and his heart torn out. Surely you cried in secret so as not to burden me with your feelings of sadness, how considerate and kind of a person you are. I must do what I can to comfort you. Tonight, I will embrace you while you sleep so you can feel the warmth of brotherly love and know you are not alone in this world."

"Haru, he confessed to me back at the beginning of the school year, so the time for consolation has long since pasted. Now we're just good friends." Naruto could lie through his teeth if he tried.

His words seemed to have the desired effect, "I see, I see. Little Kazu, why didn't you tell me that you were just good friends?"

Kazuma seemed week and drained of energy, it even showed in his voice. "I did tell you. I told you when I walked into the door."

Unfortunately, Haruko didn't seem to be listening. "You said your name was Naruto, correct?" Nod. "Ah, what a good name, simple yet unique. Everything that one would wish from a name. Sadly, my father named me and he did not have a very unique mind when it came to names **(1)**. Our mother did a much better job of naming my sweet younger brother, would you not agree?"

Naruto couldn't help but notice that Kazu seemed to be dead on his feet, it was like Haruko was draining his strength from him. The sight made him want to help his friend. Grabbing onto his arm he said, "It was a pleasure meeting you Haru, but we really need to get going. We need to get something to eat."

He was able to get Kazuma out of his brother's clutches while the man seemed to light up. "If it's food you desire, then you have come to the right place. I have prepared my famous miso soup to celebrate completing my mission early. Who better to celebrate with then with my brother and one of his friends."

The offer sounded good to Naruto, but Kazu seemed completely alarmed. With new found strength he quickly pushed his friend out the door while saying. "Actually, we promised to meet our friends at a restaurant. It would be rude to stand them up, but thanks for the offer brother. See you later."

With his happy smile in place the teen replied, "Of course, little brother. It would be extremely rude to miss an appointment with friends. Till we meet again Naru-poppy."

Then they were out the door and out of the Ryuuza area in less then a minute. Soon they were at a random Dango stand and Naruto asked, "Why did you turn down his offer. I know you wanted to get away, but free food is good food."

The raven haired boy just shook his head and replied, "No, it isn't. Never eat anything made by Haru, his sense of taste isn't normal and he can't cook to save his life despite what he believes."

"There probably isn't a good way to say this, but is he always like that?"

"What, you mean obtrusive, over confident, always positive to an extreme, and never listens to what your saying?" Naruto didn't think he'd been that bad, but he just nodded while eating his dango. "Ever since I can remember. I know I should be used to him by now, but he just makes me exhausted by being around him. Its like he leeches all my energy and takes it for himself. I can usually deal with him, but he caught me off guard." Kazu ate a stick of dango before turning to Naruto and bowing. "I apologies for putting you through that. He said he had an over night mission today so I thought it would be safe."

After having his third stick, Naruto just waved off his friend's apology. "Its all right. I didn't think he was that bad." A thought occurred to Naruto. "Is he ever serious about anything?"

"Haruko can usually get serious when the chips are down. If it has something to do with the family, or on an important mission he can focus. Otherwise he's usually just his natural flippant self."

Naruto only smiled as he said. "It's kind of nice to have a caring old brother like that. And I'm sure he wasn't lying or exaggerating when he talked about how much he loved you."

Kazu finished another stick of dango as he replied, "I guess that is one good thing, even if he's annoying as hell." But even as he spoke his lips curved slightly into a small smile and Naruto noticed it happen. The blond smile to as they continued eating.

**(TBC)**

-------

**A/N**: Another chapter and a new character. That scene with Haruko was just to introduce him. Haru's personality is based on Ayame from Fruits Basket, he'll get serious when fights. He and his team will be involved in the Chunin Exam, and they'll have a brief appearance in the next chapter.

**(1)** According to my online sources, Haruko means 'first born child'. Hence Haru's displeasure with a common and unimaginative name.

Next time, Everyone will graduate and Naruto will join Team 7. We might get into the Wave Country arc too.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclamer: **I don't own Naruto nor any characters or abilities created by Masashi Kishimoto. Original characters, abilities and bloodlines in this story (there will be) are mine. If someone out there thinks an ability or character of mine is cool and wishes to use it, feel free. I only ask that you give me credit.

**Date:** 06/29/08

**Summary:** While running from an angry mob on his birthday, seven-year-old Naruto finds himself in a strange land where a shinobi turned priest offers to train him as a ninja. Naruto eventually discovers there is more to the world then just shinobi when he unlocks his spiritual power. Not a super Naruto fic (I hate those ones) but more of a smart and wise naruto fic.

**Reviews:** Please review. I enjoy reviews, even if its only one or two words. I do not appreciate flames. If you don't like this story, its concept, or my writing style then don't read it. Don't read it then complain to me about it.

Spiritual Fox  
Chapter 09: Graduating to Teams

It was graduation day and everything was going smoothly. Naruto and friends had gotten to school on time and had taken their written exam, they had just finished lunch and were now taking the practical section. Naruto was sure that he'd gotten at least a 75 on the written, Iruka had promised to take him out for ramen again if he got above a 70. Now they were being called into a separate room one at a time and given the practical exam, which consisted of completing one of the three jutsu they'd been learning. Kiba had just come back with his headband and told them he'd been told to perform a the Transformation jutsu. Choji had been one of the first to come back and he said they'd done Replacement with him. Given that those had been their weakest jutsu, both Shikamaru and Naruto figured that they were being tested on whatever their greatest fault was. That meant Shikamaru would get a Clone test, Kazuma would get a Henge and Naruto would get a Bunshin as well.

Sure enough, when Shika went and came back he only said Clone before sitting down with his headband on his forehead and going back to sleep while mumbling "troublesome". After Kazu came back he said he got stuck with Transformation like everyone thought would happen. Eventually it was Naruto's turn, and when he went into the back room to find Iruka and Mizuki waiting for him.

Mizuki was the one who spoke first. "All right Naruto, to pass you'll need to produce one clone for us. Show me what you've got."

Naruto glanced over to Iruka before asking Mizuki, "I can't really do a Bunshin," _I knew he couldn't do it._ Mizuki thought. "So can I do a Kage Bunshin instead?"

Mizuki looked shocked at Naruto's statement. Then he began laughing. "Hahaha, a Shadow Clone? You can't even perform a regular Bunshin and you think you can do a Shadow- ah hahaha." After laughing himself to tears, he calmed down and said, "Kid, if you can pull of a Shadow Clone then of course you can pass. Hell, if you can pull off five then I'll give you my own headband. Of course, not even I can use Kage Bunshin so there's no way some kid like you can-" But he was cut off by a yell of 'Kage Bunshin no jutsu'.

Then before his eyes, 10 more Naruto's appeared in the room all solid doubles. Mikuzi's jaw dropped to the ground as he took in the sight as Iruka just smirked. If there was one thing Iruka learned over the past few months, it was you didn't make a bet with Naruto. The boy was extremely lucky and it paid off in all the right places. Since his partner was too stunned to speak, Iruka spoke for the both of them. "Congratulations Naruto, you've passed the test."

The boy dispelled his clones and flashed a dangerous smirk to Mizuki, "Hand over the headband, fish face." With his mouth hanging open, the man really did look like a fish.

Since Iruka was in such a good mood, he decided to help out his chunin friend. They were lucky Naruto's biggest fault was the doppelganger technique and not henge. Naruto didn't have the chance to use that Sexy Jutsu on them, and Iruka didn't know if his body could handle another nosebleed again. "Sorry Naruto, but you only got Mizuki's headband if you produced five clones, not ten. You get to have one of these." Iruka handed him a forehead protector from the pile.

Naruto took the gift with a smile and said, "I didn't want his anyways." As the boy walked back to the class he looked at his headband, his symbol that he was a ninja of Konoha, with admiration. Then he noticed something written on the back, signed by Iruka. 'Good luck on your road to Hokage Naruto'. As he walked into the classroom he showed his triumph to his friends.

* * *

Outside, things were hectic. Families were congratulating their children in passing their tests, Naruto didn't have a family but he was hanging out with the Ryuuza so it kind of felt like it. The blond ninja had met Kazu's father Akira once, and after having a short discussion with the man over dinner he'd been on good terms with the family head. Kazuma took after his father in looks an and personality, they were both handsome with black hair and usually had a serious personality. Naruto had asked if Haruko's personality was like his mother's and he'd gotten a straight no. Nobody seemed to know where Haru had gotten his personality from, but Akira said his late wife had been a quiet thoughtful woman who listened and had good judgment.

"I'm proud of you my son." Akira told his child. "My second son to pass through Konoha's ninja training program. Let's hope this further cements our involvement with Konohagakure."

"Yes yes father, I couldn't help but agree." It was a familiar and commanding voice which caused Kazuma to freeze and his friends to look over with curiosity. Even some random families stared at the loud teen as rushed over to give his brother a smothering hug. "We are but a new clan to this great village, we must do what we can to prove our sincerity and gain their trust and respect. As such, it is important that we follow the ninja code and walk through those hallowed halls to prove how much we love an honor the village."

Kazu was able to pull himself away from his brother and ask, "Weren't you getting your new mission assignment today brother?"

"Ha ha ha, oh dear brother, such a small thing would not keep me away today. It is a day of rejoicing and celebration, for you have traversed the halls of knowledge and become a full fledged ninja. Praise be to the graduating class!"

In the background a small girl hugged her mother's leg and said, "That man's scary." To which the mother replied, "Try to ignore him sweetie."

Akira looked at his eldest son with a slight frown on his face and said, "Haruko, I hope you're not ignoring your mission to be here. Though it is good to show support to your family, its not wise to ignore your missions either."

"No need to fear father." Haru said while he waved his hand. He was holding two bouquets of flowers which were waved as well. "We merely obtained the mission specs today. It will be a journey mission so we've been given the rest of the day to prepare. I, of course, quickly finished my preparations so I could spend the rest of my time with my young sibling."

With a smile on his face, Akira replied. "If that's the case, then please enjoy yourself. I must get back to work so please keep each other company." As the man walked off, he said, "Its so nice to have two children who get along so well."

Iruka, who had seen the frightened children in the area came to investigate and found himself assaulted by the teen. "Iruka, its been so long since we last met!"

Catching sight of the problem Iruka began wishing he'd just ignored the children and not examined the problem. With a forced smile he waved at the genin and said, "Haruko, it has been a long time. Since you graduated the academy, I think." It helped that Iruka did what he could to avoid the boy.

In a flash, Haru was shaking the man's hand and pushing a colorful bouquet of flowers into the chunin's grasp. "These may not be much dear sir, they are but a small token of my appreciation to the wonderful being who has guided my sweat younger brother and has helped him blossom into a great and proud ninja."

While Naruto and his friends were watching the drama unfold, Kazuma tried his best to sneak away from the area. Unfortunately, he didn't get far as Haruko quickly ran in front of him and forced the second bouquet of flowers into his hands. "And these, dear brother, are for you. I went through great pains to find flowers which would symbolize the importance of this day."

Everyone in the area looked at the flowers and felt a bolt of horror. They were roses and they were pretty, but the color… Finally Kazu decided to ask the question, "Haru, they are nice, but why did you get a bouquet of **black roses**?!"

With a one of his confident smiles he replied, "Isn't it obvious? Black is the color of night, of mystery, of secrets. As such, it is the very embodiment of shinobi life. What other color rose would one give to someone on such a magnificent day? Rejoice, for there are but three people in this world who would put such thought into their gifts, and first among them is the magnificent me."

Ino, against her better judgment, decided to say, "You do realize that black roses are a symbol of death, don't you sir?" **(1)**

"But these flowers are only the beginning of our day," Haru continued as he ignored Ino's statement. "Today I will not leave your side. We will eat together, laugh together, cry together, and tonight I will sleep while embracing you to my bosom. We will engrave the joy of today on your very heart!" Then he turned suddenly and walked away while saying, "See you later."

Everyone who'd been watching was thrown for a loop and Kazuma couldn't help but shout, "You're leaving after saying all that?!"

The older genin stopped suddenly, then he was back hugging his brother and saying, "I see, I see. You always get so lonely when I leave, don't you little Kazu. Never fear, I could never abandon you after hearing such a heart filled confession. Such a statement has only increased our brotherly bond of love exponentially."

Kazuma was back to looking dead on his feet while saying, "Why don't I ever learn? I've been dealing with him for the past 12 years, so why can't I learn?" Of all of Kazu's friends present, only Naruto had previously met Haruko. As such, they all finally understood why their Ryuuza friend never talked about his family. Family talk led to sibling talk and Kazuma was the type to wish he could forget about his brother.

Naruto, on the other hand, was one of the people to find Haru's personality to be endearing and admirable. He turned to his friends with a smile on his face and said, "Isn't he great you guys?"

Kiba, Shikamaru, and Choji all shared the same thought, _Great isn't the word I'd choose, by accident or design._ While they were thinking Haruko began talking again. "But of course, the day is slipping us by and we must move onto the next activity of our brotherly bonding, and that activity is Gyouza **(2)**! While returning from a mission I happened upon a quaint little shop which sells the most delicious Gyouza. While partaking, I realized I must bring my darling brother to sample the dumplings as well, and is there a better day to taste such delicious food as today? Of course not! Common sense itself dictates that we must take this most glorious day to dine upon the delicacy know as Gyouza."

"How does common sense dictate something like that?" Demanded Kazuma.

"And of course, you must bring your little friends with us." Continued the genin.

"LISTEN TO ME, DAMN IT!"

"Now where are they. In all the resent commotion I haven't gotten to meet them." All the people in the area shared the same thought. _You're the one who caused the 'commotion'._

The others were too smart to actually draw attention to themselves, but Naruto helped with identifying everyone. He raised his hand and waved at his friend's brother. "Yo, over here Haruko!" His other friends glared at the blond to try and shut him up, but it was useless as Haru spotted him and drug his exhausted brother over.

"Ah, Naru-poppy. Such a wonderful day to see you again. Have you been fairing well?"

With a smile the boy answered, "Of course." Turning he pointed to everyone in turn. "The dog guy is Kiba and said dog is Akamaru, the tired one is Shikamaru, and the larger red head is Choji." Then he indicated the ones who were more casual friends then close ones. "The one with sunglasses is named Shino and the Hyuuga there is called Hinata." Hinata blushed as Naruto indicated her as a friend. The blond pointed off to the side as he indicated the two ladies, "Those two are Sakura and Ino." On a whim, Naruto pointed to the loner who'd been watching the display, "And that guy over there is Sasuke."

Nodding Haruko responded, "I see, I see. You have the most wonderful group of friends little brother. I humbly invite you all to join me and my darling little brother in the partaking of Gyouza, be not timid or shy. I have been saving my earnings for all my missions so price is no object." Turning to the chunin who'd been standing in a daze while holding flowers, Haru said, "And you too, good sir. You who have guided my brother and his friends are also invited to eat his fill of dumplings."

With a pump of his fist, Naruto yelled, "All right! We get free dumplings!" The new genin had met Haruko a few times when visiting his friend's house and despite Kazu's warnings he'd tried some of the teen's cooking. Kazuma had accurately described his brothers culinary skills, but if they were going to a restaurant then it would be all right.

The others found ways to avoid going out with the loud and overbearing teen. Kiba was the first, "Sorry to disappoint you Haruko, but I'm going to be spend time celebrating with my family."

"I as well." Replied Shino.

The single word "Ditto" was the response Shikamaru and Choji gave.

Turning to Sakura and Ino, Haru asked, "And how do you two like your Gyouza prepared?"

Sweating slightly, the blonde replied, "I'm actually going to spend time with my family."

"Me too." Said the pink haired ninja.

"I see, I see. It is truly important to keep proper relationships with one's family, as such I wish you all the best of times with your respected relatives." With a sigh of relief, the six children walked away as fast as they could. They couldn't help but think they were abandoning thier friends to a day of doom, but they all wanted out. Haruko then appeared before Hinata and asked, "And you, young lady?"

The brunet blushed while glancing over at Naruto and said. "I-I'll accompany you."

"Wonderful." Haruko turned to point at Sasuke and he asked, "And you, young one. Are you spending time with loved ones as well?"

Sasuke, being himself, gave a one word answer. "No."

Unfortunately, it was the wrong answer to give as he soon was being drug over to the group by Haruko. "Then you surely must join your friends and partake in the Gyouza."

"I'd rather not." Sasuke said as he tried to struggle out of the man's grasp.

With a huge smile on his face, Haru said, "No need to be concerned for my sake. As I said, I have enough money to pay for everyone."

"It's not that, I just don't want any." Sasuke tried to explain.

"What craziness, everyone wishes to dine on the dumplings, such is the way of this world."

"You're the one who's crazy!" The Uchiha shouted.

"Now let us be off. Our party of six must traverse the streets of Konoha in their quest for Gyouza."

"Can't you do something about him?" Sasuke whispered to Kazuma.

"If I could, do you think I'd still be standing here? He doesn't listen to me. In fact, there are only three people who he'll listen two, our father, a family member named Hiroshi, and-"

"I thought you'd be here Haruko." Said a voice off to the side of the crowd. When everyone turned they saw three people. One was a jonin instructor and the other two were genin.

When Haru saw them his personality seemed to shine even brighter and he shouted. "A-ha, this is a day for rejoicing. Gather round young graduates and witness your future." He rushed over to the trio and continued. "These are my teammates, Satu Mihama, Makoto Kunosaki, and our jonin instructor Washi Jurio. Together we create the legendary, Team Washi. In one weeks time you will all be place into teams through which you'll continue to learn and grow. The bond of teamwork you'll form will be the strongest weapon you'll have!"

The teen indicated as Satu proceeded to hit his teammate upside the head and said, "What are you doing wasting time for? We have to go on a mission." Satu was slightly taller then Haruko and had brown hair. He looked to be about 16 or 17 and had an organized look about him. Makoto was shorter and his hair had a light bluish color. He had the appearance of a silent withdrawn type and like Satu, wore standard ninja gear. Their instructor stood a foot and a half taller then his students and was a blond. Even though he was only middle aged, he had a tired and irritable look about him. Given he was Haru's instructor, that was understandable.

With a confused look the Ryuuza teen asked, "A mission? I thought we didn't leave till tomorrow?"

Washi's look got angrier as he said, "I told you to take the morning to prepare and that we would leave slightly after noon. Its time to go."

"I understand completely." Kazuma, Sasuke, and Iruka all breathed a sigh of relief at Haruko's words, but soon found they'd been premature. "I hope you three will have fun without me. May you're mission be a success and remember to bring me back a souvenir. Now, my five companions, off to the Gyouza we go!"

Haru tried to walk away but was suddenly stopped by his teammate and his teacher. Makoto just stayed back to enjoy the show. "What are you talking about? You're part of this team so you have to come!"

Turning back to the trio, the genin smiled and said, "My heart does long to go with you, but I'm afraid I cannot. When I tried to leave earlier Kazu came to me with tear filled eyes and said he would be completely devastated if I left. How could I possibly abandon my younger brother after such a heart filled display of love?"

With angry eyes, Satu growled, "I doubt that's what actually happened."

"Naturally, in response I pledged to spend the entire day with him. As you can see my hands are tied and you'll just have to complete the mission without me. A mission may be important but nothing is more important then one's family. Now we must hurry to the Gyouza shop before there are no more seats for us."

Washi, Satu, and Kazuma all began staring at Makoto expectantly. The blue haired teen looked at all of them before finally sighing and talking to the ranting Ryuuza. His voice was rough with disuse, but it held a special quality which Naruto couldn't identify. "Haru." He began. Strangely, his teammate stopped and listened to his words. "We need you to complete the mission so can you leave with us?"

Haruko stared at his teammate for a moment and then turned back to the group of five which he'd gathered. "Well, bye bye." The action completely surprised everyone except for Kazu. "Dear Makoto had come to collect me so I must be going." Grabbing his brother's hand, Haru got down on one knee and said, "Forgive me brother, but I must break my vow and depart with you today. Do not despair, my heart will be with you and I will soon return." He stopped for a moment, got out a piece of paper and began writing something down. He thrust the page into his brother's hands along with a small bundle of cash. "I may not be able to go with you, but these directions will lead you to the dumplings which you so desperately desire, and my money will help you purchase the food. Fear not, I shall make up this this up to you by spending two days with you when I come back. Remember aspiring shinobi, one's team and their mission are the most important thing to any ninja."

Everyone in the crowd thought who'd been listening thought, _That's not what you said two minutes ago._

The team began walking off while discussing the mission. After they left Sasuke asked, "What the hell just happened?" With the entertainment gone, the rest of the families began leaving the area with their children.

Kazuma replied, "The third person Haru listens to is his teammate Makoto. I don't know why, but he respects and listens to him." The younger Ryuuza looked like he was ready to collapse and he let his brother instructions fall to the ground.

Naruto bent down to pick them up and after reading them, he finally said, "So you guys want to go eat?" The other four just looked at the blond and he elaborated. "It may not be as fun without Haruko, but it's lunch time, we have directions and there's money. Why not?"

Sasuke just looked around at the group and said. "Do what ever you want, I'm going home."

He was stopped by Naruto's hand on his shoulder. "No your not, bastard. You're probably just going to go brood or something, you need to get out more often. This is the perfect opportunity and you don't even have to pay for the meal."

While glaring at the blond, Sasuke said, "And what if I refuse to go with you?"

With a happy smile, the jinchuriki responded, "Then I'll just kick the crap out of you."

The Uchiha glared harder, but he knew Naruto meant it. Sasuke couldn't beat the boy in a fight so he couldn't retort. Soon the group of five was in the small restaurant and were all eating dumpling dishes. "Hey, Haru was right. This stuff is great!" Naruto said after his first helping. "Hinata, how do you like yours?" The young girl blushed and stutter a response. Iruka had become their chaperone and was dinning with them while holding on to the money.

Sasuke and Kazuma were sitting next to each other eating quietly until the Uchiha broke the silence. "Hey, if you're brother is so annoying then why don't you just beat him up or something? He looks pretty weak, so I could kick his ass and you're not that weaker then me, so…"

With a smirk Kazu replied, "If Haruko was that weak then I'd knock him unconscious every day. Don't let his attitude deceive you, Sasuke, he may act like an idiot… all right, he is an idiot." The boy said with a frown. "But he's an incredibly powerful idiot. He train's hard and he can get serious when there's a fight involved. Trust me, you couldn't beat him. I've tried, so many times, and I've never come close."

The others had been listening and Hinata said, "Has he ever been completely serious before?"

Kazu's expression visibly darkened and he finally replied, "Once, and I never want to see it again. It was after Mom died and when Dad got sick."

Everyone could feel the tension and knew they'd hit a sore spot. No doubt it was a horrible time for him too. Naruto decided to break the mood, "Come on, the food it good, the weather is bright and we passed the ninja exam, it's a perfect day today even if Haru isn't here. If you really wanted him here then I guess I could…" He made a few hand signs and then 'poofed' into an Haruko double. "Be not timid young ones, eat! Eat your fill and be content. There are but three people in this world who would buy such delicious food for their younger brother, and first among them is yours truly. Now shower me with praise!"

"CUT IT OUT!" Shouted three voices. The combined punches of Sasuke, Kazuma, and even Iruka sent the blond over the back of his chair and knocked him out.

"Naruto!" Exclaimed Hinata. She rushed over to the boy, who had transformed back to normal, and tried to wake him. Giving his face a few slaps she said, "Speak to me, Naruto."

The boy quickly came too and gave a smirk combined with a thumbs up. "Pretty good impression, huh?"

With a dark glair, Kazu replied, "Too good. Never do it again or I'll guarantee you won't be having any children."

With a laugh, the blond thanked Hinata (causing her to blush even harder) and got back to his seat pleased with the results. The mood was considerably lighter then before.

--

"Congratulations, little Naru."

"Huh?" The new genin was sitting on a porch and looking up at the stars. All around him were familiar trees and he was very acquainted with the building he was sitting under. And that voice, it was surprising but good to see him. While smiling, Naruto replied, "It's good to see you Yoshi sensei." The man was wearing the same cloths as before, and he was sitting next to Naruto with a bottle of sake. "Drinking? Sensei you don't drink."

"I do on special occasions, and you graduating from the ninja academy definitely falls under that category." With those words he got out another cup and poured a glass for his former student.

Naruto looked at it for a second before giving a goofy smile and saying, "You know I'm not old enough to drink. And the last time I tried I got drunk off one cup and had a huge hangover."

The older man just smiled gently and said, "Don't worry, you can drink here."

"Where is 'here', sensei?" _This place looks like the mountain temple, but the sky is clear. I've never seen stars or the moon in that place._

"It is another place which is nowhere, yet everywhere." After getting one of the 'spit it out you bastard' looks from Naruto the man elaborated. "What is the last thing you remember doing Naruto?"

Thinking back, after setting down the sake cup, the blond recapped his day, "After lunch, Hinata, Sasuke and Iruka left so I walked around with Kazu for a while. We had dinner at Ichiraku Ramen and then we both went home. I meditated for a few hours, then went to bed while reading a book, after that I was here. How does that explain where I am?"

"You are in a place were anything can happen, where you experience your greatest desires and worst nightmares. Here you can make anything happen but you can't take it back home. In other words, you are in a dream little Naru."

After looking at his sensei for a few seconds the boy finally said, "You could have just said that from the beginning. So, none of this is real?" With that Naruto picked up the sake cup and downed the whole thing. The boy had tasted alcohol before, but it hadn't been as good as what he was having now.

"Yes, and no. All dreams are connected to one another, normally a person can't cross over but one with an innate ability or proper spirit training can enter into the dreams of others and converse like this. So while we may both be dreaming, we are both real and should be treated as such."

Dream Leaping sounded like something Naruto had read about. "But enough about that, why don't you tell me about how you've been doing so far."

And so the two talked, Naruto told him about his return, his friends, the Ryuuza, and about his becoming a genin. Curious, the boy asked, "What about you, sensei? Where have you been and what've you been doing?"

"Like I said before I left, I've been exorcizing lost spirits who've been wandering." The man seemed to get angry as he continued, "There are so many of them, it makes me wonder what the hidden temples are doing? They may not want to attract attention, but half of these ghosts are in locations where they could work incognito. They must be getting lazy.

"Other then that, I've been visiting different villages and helping out where I can. I'm making some of the ninja angry by taking away their jobs, but I'm not going to die from anything like that." The priest was smiling, and Naruto was too until he heard a strange sound and everything seemed to get hazy. "Ah, it seems like our time is almost up. I hope you enjoy being a ninja, little Naru. I'll be talking to you in dreams again, and eventually I'll come see you for real." With that, the dream broke and the boy woke up.

The child glared at the offending object, his alarm clock. It had done its job and woken the child up, making Naruto really wished he'd forgotten to set it. It had been so long since he'd talked to Yoshi, but strangely enough the blond hadn't missed the man as much as he though he would. Before, Yoshi had been his entire life, the only person to look at him. Now he had Kazuma, Iruka, Kiba, Shikamaru, even Masa and Toya to have fun with and talk to. With a smile, the boy got up for the week long wait to become a genin.

* * *

Soon the seven day interval was over, much quicker then Naruto had anticipated. He'd hung out with friends, trained, even gotten his shinobi profile put together and had his picture taken (that old man wouldn't know good picture if it slapped him in the face). Apparently, he'd gained an underling/rival by the name of Konohamaru to which Naruto had passed the secret of the Sexy Jutsu. The boy had burst into the Hokage's office to try and "take down" the old man, but found his grandfather passed out on the floor with a huge nosebleed.

He'd been arguing about the picture Naruto had taken for his profile. When the blond asked, "What kind of pose did you want?" Sarutobi had answered, "Something other then that." That of course, made the boy loose his cool and use his secret weapon. He hadn't expected the Hokage himself to be a perverted old man, but if it helped him win his argument then Naruto would take it.

After seeing the Hokage defeated so easily, Konohamaru had demanded to learn the jutsu so he could use it. It had taken the child a while to master the technique, but it had brought the two closer together and something Naruto had said made the child focus more on training and less on a quick win.

Currently, the boy was sitting with the rest of his team and waiting for their sensei to get there. Naruto was ecstatic to find he'd been placed with Sakura, but less happy about being with Sasuke. The blond wanted to go all out, and he couldn't do that with Sasuke around. The kid's ego was too fragile for words, if he ever found out that Naruto was better at almost everything and not just taijutsu then he'd go berserk.

As disappointing as his team mates were, Naruto was even more let down by his teacher who was almost three hours late. Ninjas weren't suppose to be late, such a thing could get you killed. _What the hell? I haven't even met the bum yet and I'm already pissed off. The only bright side is that its time I can meditate if this becomes a pattern._ It wasn't until slightly after being three hours late that their teacher arrived to find three angry glares and one sharp kunai being thrown at him.

Kakashi Hatake was a jonin so he could handle glares and a genin's kunai, but the very fact that one of them had the guts to attack their teacher without warning, it made things interesting. There was an angry blond, a brunet and a pink haired girl; given who his team consisted of, the man assumed they were Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura respectively. Holding up the kunai, Kakashi said, "Who threw this?" Naruto's hand shot up and replied, "Me, so give it back you bum." Both Sakura and Sasuke eyed their team mate like he was crazy, which he could be.

"Insulting your teacher the second you see him isn't very good or smart, Naruto."

However, the boy didn't back down from his teacher's words, instead he retorted, "You insulted us first by being late. You're not allowed to act offended when you can't pretend to be a responsible ninja/adult." If Kakashi guessed, he'd say his student's glare was daring him to argue.

Unfortunately, he didn't think it was wise to continue, the other two seemed to be getting behind their team mate. With his one eyed smile, the jonin replied, "Meet me on the roof top in ten minutes, we'll get to know each other better." With that, the man disappeared leaving his students the same thought. _I wonder if he's really going to be there in ten minutes._

* * *

Naruto couldn't say he wasn't happy with the way things went after that. Their teacher had only been five minutes late to their roof-top meeting which was better then three hours late like before. Meet and greaet was standard too. According to Kakashi, his hobbies, likes and dislikes were none of their concern which Naruto translated to mean the man didn't **have** any hobbies to brag about.

Sasuke was the same, nothing to note except that he wanted to kill someone. Sakura didn't give out any new info, she liked everything Sasuke and hated everything Naruto. When Naruto began talking, he told them almost everything; his likes ( friends, Sakura, ramen ), dislikes (Sasuke, late teachers, prep time for ramen), hobbies (training, cooking, ramen), and dreams (becoming Hokage, earning everyone's respect, swimming in a pool of ramen). By then end of it, everyone seemed disgusted that ramen was constantly on his mind, to which Naruto replied "If you didn't want to know then you shouldn't have asked in the first place."

Kakashi (Naruto wasn't going to add "sensei" until the man taught him something) finally left saying they had a test at 7 am the next morning in Training Ground Seven, giving Naruto a thrill since he already had experience with the area. The man's students had a feeling that their teacher would be late, but they couldn't do anything about it. Naruto didn't like the order to not eat breakfast either, but he figured that going without food for a morning wouldn't be so bad after experiencing five days of no sustenance.

Soon enough, morning came and Kakashi showed up at 10 am sharp. Naruto had taken the time to meditate and conserve energy, even though he'd had a huge and healthy dinner the night before, the blond figured he'd need everything he had to make it through the day. Holding up two bells to the children, Kakashi explained the test in detail. "You're goal is to take these bells from me using any means necessary. Come at me like you intend to kill me because those who don't obtain a bell will fail this test."

Sakura raised her hand and asked, "What happens if we fail, sensei?"

"Those that fail will be sent back to the Academy and retake the final year again." Everyone's eyes bulged out at that part. "In addition, you'll be tied to a stump and watch as I eat your lunch in front of you." Three stomachs growled at his words.

Sasuke shot up and asked, "How can you send us back to the academy? I thought we pass and became genin already?"

Kakashi glared at his student and coldly replied, "And I am you're sensei, if I say your not ready to become genin of Konoha then you'll be sent back to the academy fast enough to make your head spin. Now…" The jonin pulled a small alarm clock out of his pocket and turned it on. "This timer is set to go off at noon, you have until then to complete your mission. Any questions?"

Three sets of angry eyes focused on the man, and Kakashi had the distinct feeling that it wasn't about his test. Finally Naruto shouted, "You had an alarm clock on you and you're still three hours late!?" The boy pointed an accusing finger at his teacher and the others glared harder as the older man stared back in disbelief.

Finally Kakashi hit the timer button and yelled, "Your test begins now!" With that, the three genin jumped back and out of sight to prepare their strategies. The jonin simply looked around and thought, _This should be an interesting two hours_.

**(TBC)**

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**A/N: **All right, another chapter down. As you've noticed, I've been breezing over some parts of the story without going into detail. I intend to do that with sections which don't waver too far from the original script, only going into detail with things I drastically change.

Those of you who read Fruits Basket might recognize half of Haruko's actions since I based them on multiple annoying actions of Ayame Sohma. For those of you who haven't read the manga you've just witnessed almost all of the most annoying actions and tricks that Ayame uses over the course of the manga series. I also pity those who haven't read Furuba, but what ever.

**(1)** According to Wiki, while black roses are usually thought of as a symbol of death by most people, the flower language defines it as a "farewell" to someone.

**(2)** Online resources have told me Gyouza originated in China and was adopted by Japan. The dumplings can be filled with a variety of things (including pork, chicken, and beef) and can be prepared by boiling, steaming, frying and other methods. Japanese Gyouza usually has a more garlic taste then Chinese Gyouza.

Next time it's the Bell Test and intro to wave country. After the Wave Arc I'll get into my own original arc with home-made characters and a new Bloodline Ability. Look forward to it.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclamer:** I don't own Naruto nor any characters or abilities created by Masashi Kishimoto. Original characters, abilities and bloodlines in this story (there will be) are mine. If someone out there thinks an ability or character of mine is cool and wishes to use it, feel free. I only ask that you give me credit.

**Date:** 07/08/08

**Summary:** While running from an angry mob on his birthday, seven-year-old Naruto finds himself in a strange land where a shinobi turned priest offers to train him as a ninja. Naruto eventually discovers there is more to the world then just shinobi when he unlocks his spiritual power. Not a super Naruto fic (I hate those ones) but more of a smart and wise naruto fic.

**Reviews:** Please review. I enjoy reviews, even if its only one or two words. I do not appreciate flames. If you don't like this story, its concept, or my writing style then don't read it. Don't read it then complain to me about it.

Spiritual Fox  
Chapter 10: Genin Test and a Travel Mission

It had been five minutes into the exam and nobody had tried to attack him yet. Given the relative silence, Kakashi took the time to catch up reading his special orange book. He didn't know what to expect from his students, but he didn't think that Naruto would show up and try a frontal assault on him. "You're going down you one eyed bum!" Putting his novel away, the man began assessing the child.

Kakashi had learned that the boy was the best in his class at taijutsu, even though he was borderline failing in all of his other grades, but the child in front of him didn't seem like he was that great at anything. His stance was all wrong and he had weak points all over his body. "Really. Talk is nice but lets see if you can back it up." The man considered taking out his book to read, but he decided against it. His taijutsu scores didn't match up to his current ability, so either someone made a mistake in Naruto's evaluation or the blond was trying to throw him off guard.

With a smirk, the boy said, "Don't underestimate me." Naruto charged forward to attack, but his movements were slow and bulky. It was the type of performance one would expect from a rookie, easy to predict and avoidable even while blindfolded.

Kakashi didn't even have to block, dodging was preferable to the boy's current skill level. After a few more attacks, Kakashi had enough. If his expectations hadn't been so high the he would have let it go on longer, but the boy's performance was just too much of a let down. The man took a swipe and his student jumped back from the attack, he was actually able to go back a nice distance. The one eye'd jonin just said, "I guess you really don't live up to your reputation. Too bad."

Naruto got a pissed off face as he replied, "I told you not to underest-" His words were cut off as the man appeared in front of him and gave him a punch to the gut. The blond genin slumped on his arm and Kakashi was very surprised when the boy burst into smoke. The man was even more amazed when two sets of hands appeared out of the ground and grabbed his legs and four more blonds jumped out of various hiding places to attack.

He was able to loose the grip of the two below ground Naruto's quickly, but the other four were attacking with all their might. This was the skill Kakashi had heard about, the top taijutsu of his class. It was a good strategy too, the jonin had heard about Naruto's display of Shadow Doppelgangers in his graduation exam, but he hadn't expected the first Naruto to be a clone decoy to lead him into a trap.

Kakashi attacked two of the Naruto and dispelled them and another blond threw a couple of kunai at him, one aimed at his body and another at the bells, but they were easily dodged. The jonin focused on the blonds in front of him preparing for their attack, but the man caught off guard by an attack from behind. When Kakashi looked back, he saw two more Naruto's, one with a foot in his back and another reaching for the bells. The kunai the jonin dodged was missing, which meant they'd actually been transformed Kage Bunshin. It was a good trick, Kakashi was impressed both by the blond's cunning and his chakra capacity.

Deciding to be slightly more serious, Kakashi quickly grabbed the bell reaching blond and slammed him into the second boy while simultaneously throwing shuriken at the first four, effectively dispelling all six targets. _Strange, I thought that one of them would be real. He must be watching and evaluating me. Info gathering is one of a ninja's jobs._ With that, the jonin rushed off to try and locate the other children.

_

* * *

_

I can't beat him.

That was Naruto's conclusion after watching his clones fight Kakashi. He'd been so close to getting a bell, but even fighting all out and using a good strategy he couldn't get his hands one of them. The man was just too fast and experienced to be beaten in so short a time. Wind Burst might work, but he'd probably have some sort of counter or he'd just attack before Naruto could finish his jutsu. 

The boy's head bolted up as he herd someone scream. _Did he get Sakura? Damn! At this rate, none of us will pass, and Sasuke won't do better then me. Even if he has some good traps set, it won't do much good against Kakashi._ Naruto tried to wrack his brain to find something he could use to pass, but then he remembered a lesson he had with Yoshi.

_/flashback/_

They were still on the mountain, before the first test and Naruto had asked a delicate question. "Sensei, why can't I just train on the mountain to become a fully grown ninja? You seem like the best, so what's the problem?"

The priest had been expecting this question for a while and he had his answer ready. "Because there are many things you can't learn here. Shinobi are beings which go through many challenges in life, and they need various skills in order to accomplish those test. I can train you here, give you great power, but experience is far more valuable then mere power. You'll also find that training alone may make you stronger, but there are many things one can't learn by themselves, such as teamwork."

"Teamwork?" The boy echoed.

"Yes. The ability to combine your strength with others can be a great asset. If you come across a problem or an enemy you can't conquer by yourself then try working with a group of people. Others will have different styles and abilities which may work better against an opponent. You'll get different plans of action, some better then yours and some worse. Multiple pieces coming together to form a force greater then the sum of the parts, that's the power of teamwork, the power of unity."

_/end flashback/_

"The power of teamwork…"_ I may not be able to beat him alone, but maybe if we do this together then we might be able to get bells. Didn't Haruko say that teamwork would be our greatest strength too?_ With a new goal, Naruto rushed off to find Sasuke while two of his clones went to get Sakura.

* * *

Sasuke was up to his neck in trouble, literally. His sensei had used an Earth Jutsu to avoid his fireball and then buried him up to his head. It was humiliating and he just hoped that neither of the others would see him like this.

"Looks like you need to improve yourself Sasuke." Kakashi said with a one eyed smile.

The brunet only growled at the man, but then silver haired ninja jumped back as several kunai were thrown at him. Nine Naruto's rushed the man forcing him back slightly while two more appeared and quickly dug out the Uchiha. Within seconds Sasuke was free and Naruto was carrying the complaining boy away from the scene. Kakashi quickly defeated the nine clones but didn't pursue. He wanted to see just what Naruto had planned.

When they reached Naruto's meeting place, the blond was happy to see his clones had found Sakura and that she was alright. When they dispelled, the boy found Sakura had been under a genjutsu and the bunshin had broken it with a Kai release. Now that they were gathered it was time for a strategy meeting.

The first thing Naruto did was hand each of them a small package. Sakura looked at it and asked, "What's this thing suppose to be, Naruto?"

"Food rations. You two are hungry right?"

Both Sasuke and Sakura looked at the packages in surprised. Pinky opened her package to find a hunk of jerky which she devoured quickly. The brooder, however, looked at the package with suspicion and asked, "Why are you giving us this? We're your competition right?"

Naruto looked slightly depressed as he answered, "At first you were, but not anymore. I know I can't beat Kakashi by myself. He's too fast, strong and has too much experience. There's no way I could win alone, but we all might win if we work together."

"That's because you're the idiot of the class, the only thing you've got going for you is your taijutsu." Sasuke said with a smirk.

"Perhaps, but does that mean you could do a better job? If I recall, you just got finished with Kakashi and you ended up buried up to your neck." That wiped the smile off of the black haired boy. "You can't beat him either Sasuke. If your smart, you'll swallow your pride and just admit it. Nothing can be gained by lying to yourself, so don't try."

Sasuke seemed to get even more angry, not only because the blond was talking back to him, but also because what he was saying was true. However, Sakura was the next one to speak. "Naruto, even if we work together to get the bells there are only two of them. One of us will get sent back to the academy so what about that?"

Sakura was talking to him, so that gave the boy a slight smile, but he simple answered. "Beats me. We could draw straws or something, or maybe let Kakashi choose who'll go back. I wouldn't mind going back so long as I get to wipe that smile off of Mr. Scarecrow's face."

Sasuke in desperation unwrapped his food and said "I could live with that." Getting stuck backing in the academy for another year wasn't his idea of fun, but loosing by chance was better then just outright failing.

Sakura, like always, followed Sasuke's lead. "All right, then I'm in it too."

With an excited smile, Naruto continued, "Good. We've got about another half an hour to get the bells, so how do we do it?"

* * *

Kakashi flipped a page in his small orange book and continued reading. They only had another 10 minutes to get a bell from him, so they were bound to try again soon. He didn't even know who would be attacking him, Naruto had taken Sasuke, but the brunet didn't exactly like to work with others. Sakura would work with the Uchiha in a heartbeat, but she'd never plan with Naruto.

Soon enough Kakashi heard some rustling and out came Naruto. He took one look at what Kakashi was reading and made a disgusted face. "Why do all my sensei's turn out to be perverts? Life is just playing some cruel joke on me, isn't it?"

Kakashi looked around and said, "So, Sasuke didn't want to work with you?"

Naruto just got an angry look, which was all the jonin needed for an answer. The blond lashed out with shuriken and kunai, all of which Kakashi avoided with relative ease. True, he wasn't able to read Icha Icha, which he'd stored in his back pocket, while dodging, but it wasn't very difficult. Then the boy started his physical attack, his moves were slightly faster then his clones, but that didn't make everything much harder. It only took a well placed hit to send the blond flying, but the boy made a controlled land and glared at his teacher.

The glare quickly turned to a smirk and Naruto said, "You really should keep a closer eye on your valuables, Kakashi sensei."

That made the jonin stop because he didn't have any valuables on him. There were only the bells, some weapons and his book… now that he was paying attention, one of his back pockets felt empty. Kakashi felt his pocket for his reading material, but couldn't find it. When the man looked back at his student, the boy was holding his paperback. "Desperate times call for desperate measures, hand over a bell or your book gets burnt to a crisp."

Kakashi looked at his student with admiration, "A hostage situation? I don't think anyone's tried that on me before. Don't think you've won though, your missing two things to make a ransom work. One, someone or something of importance. Even if I love that book, I can always go out and buy another."

Naruto didn't seemed phased by that. "I doubt you could buy one that's been signed by the author."

Kakashi sweat dropped at that, it was true that the book was signed but he'd hoped Naruto would miss that part. "True, but you're forgetting the second thing your missing." The next thing the boy knew his new teacher had his hand on the book and was punching him in the gut, sending him back a few feet while making him let go of the book. "The ability to hold onto the hostage and go through with your threat. Except for that last part, it was a good plan."

Naruto quickly got up and rushed forward, but what threw Kakashi for a loop was a weight on his other arm. When he looked he found Sakura grabbing onto him and disabling his arm, and with the book in his other hand he couldn't even try one-handed signs. The man gave Naruto a swift kick to the side to knock him out of the way, but then found himself completely surprised when someone gave him a kick under the jaw. Sasuke had somehow snuck up on him, and not only got a hit in but also grabbed the bells in the process.

The boy and girl both jumped away from their teacher and regrouped with their blond team mate who'd gotten back up to his feet. Just as Kakashi was going to retaliate, the alarm sounded ending the trail. Naruto fell to his knees and shouted, "Yes!" while clenching his hands to his chest. Sakura gave a sigh of relief and whipped off her brow while Sasuke just gave his smirk.

It was only then that Kakashi realized he wasn't holding his book anymore. With a slight smile the man asked, "When exactly did Sasuke transform into my book?"

Naruto gave his foxy smile and answered, "Since before I came over here. We knew we'd never sneak up on you or trap you, so we needed a way to get close to you. When I remembered you reading that book, I thought we might be able to use that."

Looking around, the jonin couldn't help but ask, "Where is my book exactly?"

Naruto fiddled around behind his back pulled out the novel. "Here you go, Kakashi."

The jonin took the book back, but was puzzled by the boy's words. "Don't you mean to call me 'Kakashi-_sensei_'?"

The blond simply said, "No. I didn't get a bell so I don't pass. The only one with a bell is Sasuke, so he's probably the only one who passes, right?"

Kakashi closed his eyes and stuck his hand under his chin, getting into a 'thinking position'. "That would be the case."

"If there's nothing I can do then that's it." Naruto seemed depressed, but he added, "I'll train like crazy and try again next year. Watch out Sasuke, I'll be even more crafty and stronger then."

Sakura was even more depressed then Naruto, but she thought it was right. _I wasn't able to do anything but grab onto Kakashi. The others were able to put up a fight, but I fell to his genjutsu without any resistance._ With a determined nod, she said, "Me too. I'll train a lot harder and pass next time."

Turning to the raven haired boy, Kakashi finally said, "Well I guess that makes it you and me Sasuke."

It was everything Sasuke dreamed of. I_'m finally a genin and have a jonin sensei. I'm going to become more powerful since I've proven myself against Kakashi, I…_ But Sasuke's thought process was cut off as he remembered what Naruto said to him, _"Nothing can be gained by lying to yourself, so don't try."_ With that, Sasuke just said, "I'll go back and train too."

Everyone just looked at him like he was crazy. Kakashi finally said, "Sasuke, you've got a bell, what do you mean?"

"I would never have gotten these bells by myself. Despite saying 'we', the plan was all Naruto's idea and I wouldn't have gotten the damn bells if it weren't for these two. Hell, with Naruto's clones he probably could have done it all himself."

The blond only shook his head and answered, "No, all the pieces had to be real. If a clone had stolen the book then it would have been dispelled after it got a hit. If it was on his arm then he'd just need to dispel it to get his hand free again. And if the bunshin was the transformed book if he'd somehow attacked it, it would just dispel and I wouldn't have gotten anything. I couldn't do it by myself."

"Neither could I." replied the raven.

Kakashi eyed his students and said, "So Sasuke, do you mean that you won't join my team unless the others join too?"

Sasuke looked like he could choke on the words, but he spat out, "Yes. There's no point in lying to yourself. I couldn't complete the task by myself and it'd be stupid to pretend otherwise."

Neither Naruto nor Sakura could believe Sasuke was saying something like that. They never assumed Naruto's words would effect the raven beyond getting him to work together. Kakashi was amazed too, he was going to do something he'd never done before. With a smile, he said, "Great answer, the three of you pass!"

"Huh?!" The trio exclaimed. Naruto voiced his question. "What do you mean? Two of us didn't get bells and the third didn't want to join."

Kakashi just waved off Naruto's question and said, "Oh, I lied about the whole bell test. The real goal was to see if the three of you could put aside your individual goals and work as a team." Seeing the bewildered looks on his student's faces, the man continued. "It's impossible for fresh genin to beat an experienced jonin in single combat, the chances are less then 1 percent. The only way its even possible to work together as a team and outwit their opponent.

"But Sensei," Sakura countered. "Naruto was skilled enough to get your book from you, so couldn't he have gotten the bells?"

The blond shook his head and answered for his teacher. "No. The only reason I was able to get my hands on that book was because he wasn't expecting me to go for it. He thought I was after the bells so that's where his attention was. If he hadn't been so focused on the bells then that plan would never have worked."

Sakura seemed to understand (the very fact that the idiot of the class was teaching the best kunoichi strategy was intriguing) and Kakashi continued. "Of course, in order to work together, at least one of you needed to realize and admit that you weren't any match for me. Being able to deal with reality and not loose yourself in personal delusions is a perfect quality for a ninja." Sasuke glanced at Naruto.

"And then there's the most important part of being a ninja. It isn't jutsus or missions, its about caring for one's teammates. Remember this, those who abandon their mission are trash, but those who abandon their companions are even less then that. Sasuke, you refused to leave behind your team because you realized a team is stronger then just one person alone. Its one of the most important parts of being a ninja, so the three of you passed."

The new team just stood there in stunned silence until Naruto started jumping up and down with a huge smile on his face while shouting his head off. Sakura looked like she could cry tears of joy while Sasuke just stood there with a smile on his face. "All you three, here's your lunches. You must be starving."

The children took the lunch boxes, but Sakura added, "We're not ravenous yet. Naruto gave us some food while we were planning."

Kakashi eyed the blond, who was happily consuming his meal. "Naruto had food on him?" _Did he see through the bell test?_

After finishing his bite, the jinchuriki replied, "Yep. I always keep some food rations on me. I eat 'em as a lunch before they go bad so I never waste anything."

Sasuke seemed curious too. "Why exactly do you always have food on you, idiot?"

"My first sensei put me through a survival test one time. He left me out in a forest alone with only a few kunai, a pot and some medical supplies and told me to survive for one month. He'd been teaching me hunting and tracking skills, but it still took me a week before I could catch any food." The others felt a rush of horror. A week without any food… just missing one meal sounded tough to Sasuke and Sakura. "Since then I've all ways carried food on me in case of an emergency."

"Hmm. A month long survival course." Kakashi began thinking on how he could adapt that into a test, but then felt a wave of killer intent from his students. They seemed to know what he was thinking, so the man decided to abandon his plans… at least for the time being.

* * *

"GIVE US SOMETHING IMPORTANT THIS TIME OLD MAN!!" The new 'Team 7' was getting another mission, but Naruto was being short tempered. Of course, it was rare to find someone who could be calm after catching the same cat three missions in a row, but it still wasn't a good excuse for loosing your cool in front of the Hokage.

"Naurto," Iruka began. "You can't just get a better mission that easily. You have to work up to it. You've only been a team for about a month, so you still only get the lowest level of missions."

However, Naruto only responded, "We have earned something better. We've caught that damn cat three times and I'm the one who gets clawed every retrieval, if we haven't earned an important mission after that then when do we get one?"

The logic made sense to both Sasuke and Sakura, but it didn't seem to reach any of the adults in the room. Sarutobi just said, "You're still a fresh genin, so you still get 'D' ranked missions. Right now we have three missions available: help a construction crew, pulling weeds, or capturing a-"

"NO CATS!" This was shouted not only by Naruto, but his teammates as well. Even Kakashi was getting tired of that feline.

"I just want to prove myself, what's so wrong about that you old man?" Naruto seemed to be on the verge of tears, and the look his team mates were giving him said they found him both pathetic and disgusting.

However, the blond's words and tears seemed to have the desired effect. The old man's resolve seemed to break and he said, "We do have one low ranking 'C' mission, it's guard duty while traveling to Grass Country, the client is a merchant named Keiji Takuro."

"Sounds good to me," Sasuke said. His exterior was calm, but he was actually happy to get a different mission, and a C mission at that. Sakura was smiling about their mission, but inwardly she was worried if they could handle it.

Naruto used his foxy grin and said, "Finally, this is my chance." Kakashi just looked on, wondering if it was wise to let this group do an advanced mission.

"If you all agree, then send Mr. Takuro in to meet his guards." Replied the third Hokage.

Eventually the doors opened and a man walked in to meet his protectors. He looked about 50 years old and had a medium build. His face was handsome in a rugged way, having dark black hair with streaks of gray in it along with piercing green eyes. The scars showing across his chin and cheek said that he'd seen combat before, and as he looked onto Naruto's team his eyes held disapproval. "I asked for guards, Lord Hokage, not green children."

The man's attitude made the team angry. "They may be new, but they're skilled. Sasuke and Sakura were the best of their year and Naruto is the most surprising and cunning of all the new genin."

The merchant only countered, "School knowledge and experience are two different things. You normally give me a team with some experience as guards, I want a discount for this."

Keiji's attitude made Naruto mad, but the bum had a point. The Hokage was trying to assure the man, but the blond cut in and haggled. "The bum's got a point, old man." Everyone looked at boy with suspicion, but he just kept talking. "We don't have as much experience in fighting and guarding, so cut the fee by 15 percent."

"20 percent." the black haired merchant folded his arms like that was the end of it, but he didn't know Naruto very well.

"15, bum. I don't care if you're our client, I'll beat the crap out of you for trying to cheat us."

Everyone just looked at the blond. Both Kakashi and Sasuke thought he was crazy for threatening the client and Sakura just saw an idiot with a short fuse. The Hokage and the others in the room just looked on, wondering how Keiji would react to the boy. The merchant looked down at the genin and narrowed his eyes, but Naruto didn't back down or look away.

Suddenly, Keiji smiled and said, "This kid's got spunk, I like that in a guard. How's 10 percent off sound. If they do a good job I'll even pay full price."

After all of Team 7 gave their consent, Sarutobi finalized everything. "Prepare for a long trip, you leave noon today. This is only a C ranked mission, so the worst enemies you'll be facing are bandits with little to no ninjutsu training. Prepare and be at the village gate on time."

"Yes, sir." The three children replied.

After they left, Keiji simply said, "I think they'll be alright. Ninja's with that much energy and drive usually turn out good."

For his part, Sarutobi had a bad feeling about the mission but decided to keep his peace. Bad things happened all the time, and people could only try to overcome it. The same held true for ninjas, and even those one care for greatly.

* * *

At noon, the team left the gates with Keiji and found the man's caravan right outside the gate, there they were told the details of their job by Takuro. "All right, brats, listen good. I've got 5 wagons of goods here, one of you will be with each wagon to help protect it. We'll be traveling to three different towns and delivering supplies before crossing the border into Grass Country. After that, you'll be sent back to Konoha and I'll continue going through Grass with new guards."

It sounded simple enough to everyone. Sakura decided to ask, "What exactly are we guarding, sir?"

Keiji fixed the girl with a sharp glare that made her freeze. "You're new at this so I'll let that slide. In the future, questions like that should be asked to the Hokage. The employer gives the Village council the full details of their cargo, as well as it's expected travel route and value of the merchandise. Some merchants find it very offensive to answer questions like that, so ask your leader next time. If he feels you should know, then he'll tell you.

"To answer your question, its medical supplies. Nothing extremely rare, just bandages, splints, antibiotics and other common things. Because the supplies are normal, we don't usually get attacked by hired shinobi, but random bandits are another matter. We might get attacked while inside Fire Country, but its more likely that something will happen in the border lands. Any more questions?"

Despite being so intimidating, Naruto raised his hand and asked, "Can't you just protect the cargo? You're a ninja too right?"

Sasuke had thought so too, but Sakura hadn't noticed anything. Keiji just smiled and said, "I used to be, kid, but I'm retired now. I was Jonin level, but got my arm injured one too many times. I can still use it, but I'm not quick enough to weave signs with the best. I was a teacher for a little bit, but retired about 10 years ago. I may have been a ninja, but I'm not skilled enough to protect five carts of goods by myself. Its just easier to hire help when I need it.

"If that's all the questions, then choose a cart and we'll move out."

**(TBC)**

* * *

**A/N:** All right, I've decided to forgo another repetitive Wave Country arc and jump into my original arc instead. Honestly, the only thing I'd really use Wave country for would be the training exercises, so it seems kinda pointless. I'll just fit a training schedule into my next arc somehow.

Keiji Takuro, I made up the name out of nothing so I don't have any idea if it means anything.

Next chapter you'll meet another original character, Keitaro Juino, who has an original bloodline ability. See you then.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclamer:** I don't own Naruto nor any characters or abilities created by Masashi Kishimoto. Original characters, abilities and bloodlines in this story (there will be) are mine. If someone out there thinks an ability or character of mine is cool and wishes to use it, feel free. I only ask that you give me credit.

**Date:** 07/16/08

**Summary:** While running from an angry mob on his birthday, seven-year-old Naruto finds himself in a strange land where a shinobi turned priest offers to train him as a ninja. Naruto eventually discovers there is more to the world then just shinobi when he unlocks his spiritual power. Not a super Naruto fic (I hate those ones) but more of a smart and wise naruto fic.

**Reviews:** Please review. I enjoy reviews, even if its only one or two words. I do not appreciate flames. If you don't like this story, its concept, or my writing style then don't read it. Don't read it then complain to me about it.

Spiritual Fox  
Chapter 11: Border Trouble

It had been two weeks and the group had finally made it to the border. If they'd traveled straight to their destination, then it would've only taken a day or two, but they'd zigzagged around the entire northwest side of the country making stops at smaller villages to deliver needed supplies. Many towns were regulars who had standard supplies, and even bought specific medicines from Takuro. The cart drivers were well versed in medicine, and were able to teach the child guards various medical techniques.

Keiji proved to be the best client they could ask for. The man may have been scary but he was kind in his own ways, and being a former ninja he even trained them in order to, as the man said, "Raise the quality of you stupid guards". He taught them the tree walking exercise, which they all practiced when they stopped at night or when they were in a village. Sakura had mastered the exercise first, and Sasuke and Naruto finished after a week of practice. Both Kakashi and Keiji were suspicious though, there were times when Naruto didn't seem to be trying, the child even seemed to be bored while practicing. It was the attitude of someone who already knew the lesson and was only wasting his time.

Kakashi thought it was possible, the boy was highly surprising. The kunai and shuriken handling he'd shown during the bell test was far better then his test scores indicated, the scarecrow was beginning to think his student was better then anyone first assumed. There was also the strange jutsu that he knew as well, someone had taught him a new kind of light technique, one which created pure light without using fire or lightning as a medium. They had needed to find a specific herb in one of the wagons, but it had been at night and they couldn't use a fire lantern without the risk of catching the contents on fire. Naruto had just hopped up on the wagon and created a small ball of light and asked which plant they needed. Not only had Kakashi never seen a jutsu like that before, he'd never even heard of something like it. The boy was secretive too, he wouldn't show his sensei or his employer how it worked. He didn't even show the secrets to Sakura when she asked about it, Sasuke hadn't bugged him at all but even he was curious about the technique.

When they got to the boarder forest, nobody was surprised to find nothing special. There was only a wide road, wide enough to fit three, maybe four wagons on, which wound through the forest. Just before they were about to enter the border area, Keiji stopped their caravan and gave them a short lecture. "All right brats, the forest we're about to enter is part of the border for the country, we may have been attacked once before but chances are we'll get hit a lot harder in there, anybody know why?"

Sakura raised her hand and said, "Diplomatic complications. Police and army forces of one country can't pass into another without permission. All the bandits have to do is strike on one side of the border, then move to the other to avoid persecution. As long as they never strike someone or something too important, the country can't send troops into another without it being an invasion. It's a good strategy except when two countries are trusted allies."

"Correct," The gruff man gave Sakura a smile as he continued, "The actual border is the river which runs through the forest, all a bandit group has to do is cross the river to avoid being caught. If anyone is going to attack us, they'll do it there. Most bandit groups only cause trouble on one side then have their base on the other to so they never commit a crime in their home. Keep your guard up and have weapons ready, if we're lucky then we can be on the other side of the forest by nightfall."

Naruto raised his hand and asked, "Won't it cause trouble to have us cross the border? We're Konoha nin going into Kusa."

Kakashi answered that question, "No, right now we've been hired by Takuro as guards and are being paid to protect him until he reaches the first village in Grass Country. We have a purpose there, and once we've completed our mission we'll leave. There's no need to fear so long as you don't attack any of the Kusa Shinobi."

"All right, bring on the bandits." Naruto seemed excited about fighting, both Kakashi and Keiji worried that the blond might start a fight if he wasn't careful.

--

According to Takuro, they'd were a third of the way through the forest and still hadn't been attacked and that was not normal. "We usually get attacked by some group about now, even if they aren't that strong. We may not have anything special, but most bandit groups attack anything that looks of value. Something's wrong."

Just as he said it, someone began walking toward their group. He was a teen, probably only a year or so older then Naruto and the others. His red hair was short and striking, he stood about three inches taller then Sasuke and his body was well muscled. His posture said he could use the two katana strapped to his waste, as did his eyes. They were a hazel color but cold and malicious.

In an instant, Kakashi was in front of the boy while the others kept a look-out for an ambush. The Copy Nin fixed the boy with as cold a glare as he could and said, "How many others are in your group?"

The child didn't seem to be affected by the glare and replied, "I don't work as a group, only alone. I hate bandits, and I've taken care of most of the ones in the forest."

_So that's the reason we haven't been attacked_, Naruto thought.

Kakashi just looked at the teen and said, "If you're not a bandit then you're not after these supplies, what do you want?"

Naruto's sensei suddenly jumped back to avoid the boy's slash. The child had drawn out his swords and attacked faster then any of the team could believe. He wasn't as fast as the jonin, but his strikes were at least at a high chunin level. "I'm known as Keitaro Juino, and the caravan can leave. The only thing I want is the lives of all the ninja's here. If there's one thing I hate more then bandits, its shinobi."

The sound of his voice was just as cold as his eyes, he meant what he said. Kakashi looked at the boy, then glanced back at his group. "Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto." The three jumped forward to join their master. "Go ahead of us Mr. Takuro, I don't think this boy is lying, so you shouldn't have any trouble. We'll meet you at the bridge."

The merchant looked concerned, but he signaled his drivers to move forward. As he passed them by, he said, "Be careful Kakashi. Something about this kid makes me worried." Soon the man had turned a corner and was out of sight, the ninjas began appraising the swordsman.

"What village are you from?" Sasuke asked. He didn't see any indicator on the teen, but he wanted to be sure.

Keitaro just looked over at the raven-haired boy with pure hate in his eyes and replied, "I was planning on giving you a quick death, but thinking I'm from one of those disgusting villages ensures a slow and painful end." Hearing their home talked about so disgracefully caused everyone, even Kakashi, to narrow their eyes. "I'll chop you up piece by piece from the legs up."

"No, you won't." The jonin stated. He rushed the red head and slashed with a kunai, but the child used one of his swords to turn aside the strike and lashed out with the other. The Copy Nin was forced to pull back as the boy began attacking with everything he had. _He's good, but I'm better. With those swords in his hands, he can't make any hand signs to use jutsu. It's impossible to be this good without being a ninja._ The jonin quickly made the signs for Replacement, everything went perfectly until he stopped to activate the jutsu while the teen hit him, then he found that for some horrifically unexpected reason the technique failed to activate. All he got for his trouble was a shallow chest slash, not enough to be life threatening, but it did hamper his movements slightly.

Trying to figure out what was going on, the man tried to focus some chakra into his legs so he could get some distance, but found that he couldn't access his reserves. _What the hell? Where'd my chakra go?_ _This is like the time's I've fought with a Hyuga, but he doesn't have a Byakugan._ The jonin was so surprised that he let his opponent slice fairly deep into both is left arm and his right leg. Keitaro was about to stab his opponent in the chest, but was forced to jump back as several shuriken were thrown at him.

Naruto and the others rushed forward to protect their sensei. They'd been watching from the sidelines and couldn't understand the turn of events. One minute Kakashi was dodging his opponent's strikes, and the next his jutsu had failed and he was getting hacked to pieces. "Sakura," said the blond. "Try to patch up Kakashi-sensei the best you can, we'll take care of this loser." The girl nodded and began wrapping her master while her team began their fight.

"A couple of genin, this should be easy." The red head had one of his swords resting on his shoulder as he looked at his new opponents. "I probably won't need my Kekkei Genkai against you two."

Naruto looked on with suspicion. _A Bloodline Ability? Did he use that to freeze Kakashi or something?_ He began racking his brain, trying to think of what ability he could have while Sasuke just rushed forward and began attacking. The boy pumped chakra into his legs and started off with taijutsu, punching and kicking as hard as he could, but his opponent just dodged or blocked strikes with his swords. Sasuke wasn't slow, his opponent was too damn fast for him. _Sasuke's taijutsu jumped to a high genin level when he used chakra to boost his speed and strength, and mine jumps to a low chunin level with chakra. This guy's speed is at least at a high chunin level._

The raven threw a few shuriken at his opponent, made the signs for his family's technique, then… Out from his mouth shot a blazing ball of flames, the Uchiha's Grand-Fireball Technique. Keitaro dodged to the left, which Sasuke anticipated as he threw a handful of shuriken to meet his opponent. What wasn't expected was when the red-head calmly used his swords to bat away most of the projectiles. The teen had a bored expression as he asked, "Is that all you can do?" It got Sasuke angry, but he didn't have anytime to retort because his opponent began his offense.

The guy was just too damn quick, for every one slash Sasuke was able to block, two more got through. Luckily, the teen was serious about their slow deaths. None of the wounds were critical, most of them were shallow and the blood wasn't flowing too much. Suddenly, the raven fell down to one knee and Keitaro was about to strike his opponent's back when Naruto rushed forward with three clones to support his teammate. The red head moved back to avoid the bunshin as the real Naruto stopped in front of Sasuke and completed his jutsu. He launched a non-lethal Wind Blast at his opponent, hopping the swordsman wouldn't be able to dodge the wide area of the shockwave.

However, the teen proved his skill not by dodging the attack, but by grabbing one of the clones and throwing it to intercept the blast. As he used his swords to dispel the other bunshin, Sasuke charged again only he was much faster then before. He was able to match the swordsman blow for blow and as the two broke apart Naruto could see why, his teammate's eyes had transformed into their Sharingan form. With those, he could predict his opponents moves much easier then before.

However, despite the turn of events, the carrot-topped swordsman only looked at them calmly, "Hmm, I'd heard most of the Uchiha had died off, I didn't expect to meet a Sharingan here. Also, meeting a genin who can use Kage Bunshin is rare, I underestimated you." That didn't bode well for the shinobi. _He was kicking our asses and he wasn't trying his best?_ Both Sasuke and Naruto had the same thought. "I guess I'll just have to use my bloodline ability against you."

"I'm not going to give you the chance!" Yelled Naruto. He made his familiar hand signs and yelled, "Shadow Doppelganger", except nothing appeared. It wasn't just that, he couldn't feel his Chakra at all. Glancing over at Sasuke, Naruto found the Uchiha's Sharingan had deactivated, and judging from the boy's confused look it hadn't been voluntary. Then it finally hit him, he remembered an entry in Yoshi's Kekkei Genkai book and realized what they were facing. It seemed impossible, _that_ bloodline was suppose to have been wiped out, but there couldn't be another explanation. _We've got to get out of here and regroup._ Naruto quickly thought of a plan, he turned to Sasuke and whispered, "Buy me a few seconds, OK?"

For his part, Sasuke didn't know what his teammate had up his sleeve, but he was ready to trust the blond. Sasuke took out a handful of shuriken and threw them at his opponent while Naruto bolted into the forest. Keitaro just looked on and gave a smirk. "Looks like your teammate up and left you to die." His tone was mocking, and if Sasuke hadn't know Naruto any better, he would've agreed with the red head. Just as the teen was about to attack, several kunai were thrown at him by both Sakura and Kakashi.

"We need to hold him off until Naruto gets back," the jonin said to his students. While smirking, Keitaro began to walk forward, but he was forced back again by another distraction, Naruto. Actually, it was a ton of Narutos, at least thirty of them were charging the sword wilder. There were so many that they couldn't see the teen anymore, which was exactly what the blond haired ninja wanted.

Suddenly, Sasuke and the rest of his team found themselves being carried away by various Naruto bunshin, while doubles of them all stayed behind to act as decoys. Sasuke tried to complain, but Naruto kept a hand clamped over his mouth while he whispered, "We've got to regroup with Keiji and discuss this guy. Those bunshin will run another direction and hopefully he'll follow them. Keep quiet so he doesn't notice us." The team merely nodded and let themselves be carried, both Kakashi and Sasuke were injured and Sakura wasn't nearly as fast as the blond. Naruto only hoped that they could find some way to counter their opponent's power.

--

The halfway point had a bridge over a river, there was space cleared on the sides of the road for people to make camp or rest without blocking the way for others. The land formed a small cliff next to the river which made a six foot drop into the water. There was only a regular wooden bridge crossing the river's gap so the expanse wasn't huge but it wasn't small either, it was also too fast to swim making the bridge completely necessary. Their employer was waiting for them with medical supplies, and he didn't seem very surprised that they'd only escaped their opponent. While the drivers were patching up their guards, everyone was discussing the red-haired teen. "All right," began Kakashi. "We need to figure out who that kid was and how to beat him. Any thoughts?"

Sasuke looked over at Naruto, "Well? You're the one who seemed to know something."

He didn't want to give them the bad news, but someone needed to let them know what they were fighting. "There isn't much new information I can give, you guys all felt it didn't you?"

"Felt what?" Asked the merchant.

Kakashi answered, "While we were fighting, we lost the ability to access our chakra. It caused our ninjutsu to fail and we couldn't increase our speed either."

The blond just nodded. "That's his bloodline, the Negation power. He can form a field around himself where chakra can't be created or used by people."

The others didn't want to believe it, but the way they couldn't tap into their chakra… "Do you know any details, Naruto?" Sakura asked.

With a nod, the child continued. "He doesn't have the ability to turn the field off, just to expand or contract it. He is always at the center, so he can never use chakra or jutsu himself, but that just means he can focus on improving his taijutsu and kenjustu, and his opponents become unable to use their ninjutsu against him."

"Impossible." Sasuke was being his obstinate self. "There's no way an ability that powerful could exist."

"It shouldn't still exist," replied the blond. "According to what I read, that bloodline appeared about 200 years ago and the entire shinobi community united to wipe it out. I don't know how it still exists, but it does."

Kakashi eyed his student and asked, "Where did you learn about this, Naruto? I've never even herd rumors about this bloodline."

The child gave his sensei a look before replying, "I disappeared for four years before entering the academy. In those years, I trained with a man named Yoshi Ichihara and he had me read a book about various bloodline abilities. Part of the information was whether or not the Kekkei Genkai still existed, and the Negation section said it had been wiped out."

Keiji decided to ask a more practical question. "Kid, do you remember what that book said about weaknesses?"

Getting into a thinking position, Naruto responded, "Weaknesses… The ability is tied to his own will and stamina, so he needs to use his own energy to expand the field. If he's unconscious then the field shrinks down to only his body and he can't maintain it if he's exhausted. However, a grown adult can affect an area with a radius of 15 meters without too much trouble.

"The biggest weakness is that it can't negate chakra itself, only it's creation and use." The confused looks of his companions forced Naruto to elaborate. "You saw it didn't you? My clones were able to get in close without dispelling. We can't activate a jutsu while inside his Negation Field, but we can form ninjutsu outside the barrier and bring them inside. Something that uses a continual chakra flow wouldn't work, but a jutsu which is formed from a set amount of power can be used. If we can get him to hold still, we could hit him with a distance attack."

Suddenly, Naruto got a dazed look in his eye and before saying, "He just got rid of the decoys. He's coming here. Should we run or fight?"

Kakashi turned to the merchants and said, "We're the only ones he's after, you guys could try to run and get to the next village."

Keiji only looked back to his drivers. They all gave determined nods, causing the head to smile and reply, "It's decided, we'll stay to help. You four are part of our group now, temporary maybe but still a part. My old ninja training doesn't let me leave behind a team member without good reason. I may not be able to do much anymore, but I've still got good speed and my fighting is top notch."

Within another minute, Keitaro appeared with his swords drawn only to find Sakura and the two injured shinobi at the wagons. "Where's your friend? You know you can't win with a weak little girl and a couple of injured losers, I don't care if one of them is a jonin." The group glared at him, but he kept his distance and a faint rustling alerted him to an attack from the left. He got his swords up to block a kick from Naruto only to find another Naruto had hidden on his other side and quietly attacked there. Fortunately for the swordsman, the child only punched his arm, he didn't stab it, and with a couple of slashes his opponents dispelled.

Another rush came, this time in the form of real opponents. Both Naruto and Keiji were attacking with kunai and fist, trying to wear down their opponents at the very least. Keitaro seemed to have a small amount of trouble with this pair, the real Naruto didn't just dispel with a single slash, and his taijutsu style was extremely strong, and the merchant was even more powerful, he'd been a former mid-level jonin and his years in retirement hadn't deteriorated his skills too much. The red-head was still able to hold his own, even if he wasn't able to be offensive.

Suddenly, Kakashi rushed into the fight, and threw a single kunai at their opponent. The other two jumped back as far away as possible and it only then that Keitaro noticed the blade had a yellow handle. The swordsman was able to knock the knife back, but was seemingly caught by the resulting explosion. They'd activated the letter bomb outside the Negation Field, from what Naruto had told them it was a good plan that had a high chance of working. Just when they thought he was done for, something rushed out of the smoke left by the bomb. Somehow the teen had survived the blast with only a few scrapes, Kakashi was caught off guard and let himself be kicked in the gut. The blow was more powerful then before, the swordsman seemed pissed at his near death experience, and it gave him an extra boost in strength.

As the Jonin fell from the blow, he'd hit the area where the jonin had been slashed and it hurt like hell, Keitaro rushed over to Sakura and Sasuke to ensure there wouldn't be any more sneak attacks. The two tried hitting him with shuriken and kunai, but the projectiles were batted away effortlessly. Naruto could only watch as his teammates were knocked out by a couple of blows to the head. _Damn it! This guy was tough enough to win against when he was calm. He's even more powerful when he's in a rage like this._

With the others out of the way, the teen began walking back to his opponents. He had the gall to kick Kakashi in the head on the way back, while they had time Keiji said, "Kid, I'll do everything I can to beat him here, but you need to run back to you village as fast as you can and tell them about this guy." Before the child could complain, the merchant elaborated. "He may not be a threat now, but with a few years of training he could beat a Kage. Tell your leader about this threat and make sure he's found and taken care of. Your still under my employment, so that's an order."

Naruto gave Keiji a nod before running back down the trail. In truth, he was afraid of their opponent. If it had been anyone else, he'd have fought, he trusted his strength. However, they were facing a man who could take their power away. After running for a minute something his sensei said floated back into his mind, _"Those that abandon the mission are trash, but those that abandon their friends are even less then that._" Remembering those words, Naruto stopped and looked back. _None of my sensei ever trained me to be a coward and leave behind a friend, I need to find a way to beat that guy._ The blond began running back as he thought. _If need be, I can use my necklace to escape, but I can only take others I'm touching with me. There are too many of us spread out for us to escape that way. I might be able to take Keitaro with me, but that might just get me killed and the mountain might send him back right here._

The boy arrived back before coming up with a plan, and he found everything exactly as he expected, Keiji had been able to get a few hits in but his opponent was in better shape. Hell, the merchant was on the ground while the swordsman held his blades up to land a finishing blow. As he was going to stab he merchant, Naruto jumped in the way to take the blow for the man and the sword became imbedded in the boy's abdomen. Keitaro was surprised the blond had come back, but was also pleased. It meant he didn't have to hunt anyone down later. Before the swordsman could strike again five Kage Bunshin began attacking, forcing the man to abandon the sword in the blond because Naruto refused to let go of the weapon.

As the red head was forced back, Naruto pulled the sword out of himself. He could feel blood in the back of his throat, but he knew a simple stab wound would heal quickly thanks to the Kyuubi. Keiji, on the other hand was completely livid. "What are you doing here brat! I told you to run!"

Naruto just smirked and replied, "I'm a ninja too, and I'll never abandon my friends even if it means going against orders. I'll protect the people who are precious to me."

"If you think you little act will save you, then you're mistaken." Keitaro had finished with the clones and had listened to their conversation.

"Act? What do you mean act?" Naruto was confused by his opponent. It was strange, the swordsman didn't seem the type to try confusing his enemy, just to go for the kill.

"The whole 'protect people' crap. I know what ninja are, blood thirsty killers for hire. Murderers of the lowest kind who only find pleasure in taking life. When you can't find a job for killing, you go around slaughtering random people. Genin are just killers in training." The look in his eyes said the red haired teen believed what he was saying.

"What the hell are you talking about?! That's insane!" Naruto couldn't believe what he was hearing. _Not only is he trying to kill us, he's doing so under false assumptions._

"It's not insane, its fact," was Keitaro's reply. "All ninja's are murderous bastards who deserve death. That's why I'm going to wipe them all out. Both the ninjas and their ninja villages will become extinct, nothing will be left to remember you killing bastards. This world will become a much better place without you disgusting freaks."

The teenager's words only got Naruto angry. Even the blond knew that ninja weren't need in the world, that the planet probably would be better off without them. But to say that all ninja were murderers who enjoyed killing, that they went on random killing sprees for no reason. The garbage Keitaro was spitting out only pissed Naruto off, far more then anything even Yoshi had done to him.

"After I'm done with you, I'll be slicing up your partners and there'll be five less shinobi infesting this world."

"NO YOU WON'T!" The wounds on Naruto began healing over as the boy let his rage overflow. His eyes became feral and the whisker like scars on his face elongated and grew darker. What surprised the swordsman most was the feeling of chakra that came off the younger boy, it was dark, foul and appearing despite being within his Field. Keitaro also found the chakra was much more powerful then before, the blond surprised him by rushing forward and grabbing his remaining sword while kicking him in the chest. The teen was forced to let go of his weapon as he was sent flying back, Naruto just to dropped the weapon as he rushed forward and began striking with his fists alone.

Kakashi looked on, wondering what to do. He was afraid of the power inside Naruto, that seal was breaking, but there wasn't much he could do to stop it. His wounds hadn't healed, and he was still in the swordsman's Negation Field. Keitaro was still strong without his weapons, but Naruto was better in hand to hand fighting, even when he lost control, his body remembered how to fight. For every two strikes the red head block, another got through his guard and the punches had become much more powerful. Taking even one out three hits was hard, and blocking the others was quickly causing his arms to go numb.

Eventually, the red head had to drop his guard, it was just too exhausting. He didn't know what was up with the blond or what happened, but the kid didn't seem tired in the slightest. After his guard was down, the blond struck hard with a punch. It was simple but his opponent was too tired to dodge, the attack not only knocked the boy unconscious, but also sent him flying back to ledge above the river. Seeing the threat out cold calmed Naruto down and as the blond walked up to his opponent he began noticing something was different.

Keitaro seemed to be surrounded by a strange glow, and now that the boy had his mind back he noticed other strange feelings too. He could 'feel' Kakashi and the others, the boy seemed to know where everyone around him was. It wasn't like he was seeing or smelling on a different level, it was something else entirely, as if he'd gained a new sense… _Is this spirit sense?_ Naruto looked over to Kakashi and he saw a glow, _An aura_ the boy thought, around his sensei. It was different then Keitaro's just like how no two people were the same. However, Kakashi was awake and emotions were playing across his aura, and if Naruto guessed, he'd call the main emotion fear. Keiji's aura was filled with amazement and curiosity, likely from how he'd just transformed and beaten their adversary.

Sasuke and Sakura were both unconscious, but they had unique aura's too. When he looked away, Naruto found he could distinguish between the feelings he got from the others, so that in the future he'd always be able tell which direction someone was at the very least. He was only a foot away from the fallen swordsman and when he looked down at his opponent, his heart clenched. What he saw was something far different then he'd ever expected from the bastard. Back when he first begged Yoshi to teach him spirit techniques, the man had tried to explain how difficult it was to kill when a person gained spirit powers. Now Naruto had experienced the why, and he found it to be absolutely horrible.

Suddenly the cliff beneath the blond's feet began to move. The land had been damaged from damage, and the combined weight of the two young men caused the ledge to crumble. Naruto could've easily have jumped and let his would-be killer drown in the river, and if his Spirit Sight hadn't activated then he would have done so. But the ability had awakened and now Naruto found himself reaching out to save the carrot-topped teen. He was able to gab onto the boy just before they hit the water.

With only the ability to watch, Kakashi looked on as Naruto fell down with the swordsman. Though Kakashi could now use his chakra again, he still had his wounds to deal with, and by the time the jonin got to the riverside, Naruto had already been washed away. The river wasn't just fast, it seemed to be so fast that a person could get swept down at least a mile within just a minute, and that cliff would make it hard to get himself out of the water.

As Kakashi watched with a worried look, his employer came up beside him and said, "That kid will be all right. The river might be fast, but there aren't any sharp rocks in there. Naruto seemed too hardy to let himself drown, so lets get you fixed up again. It may take until tomorrow or the next day, but that kid will come back soon."

Kakashi let himself be lead away, because he didn't know what else to do. He couldn't case after them or swim with his injuries, in fact there was only one thing he could think of in this situation. The man quickly bit his finger and smeared blood on his hands, and after a few hand signs he placed his palm on the ground and out popped a nin-dog. The animal looked up and awaited orders, Kakashi finally said, "Go down river and try to find Naruto. We don't know where he'll wash up, but it'll happen eventually." With a nod, the dog raced down the river side and the jonin watched until it was out of sight. He'd considered using the dogs against Keitaro, but decided no to. With the boy's power and skill, some of them could easily be killed, so it wasn't advisable. Kakashi walked back to the wagons where Sakura and Sasuke were being treated, and the man could only hope.

**(TBC)**

--

**A/N:** What do you think of the ability? It might be a little cheap, but Sharingan is thought of as cheap too, and the Bone Pulse ability is near unbeatable. I tried to give the ability a few weaknesses, but there's only so much I can do without completely ruining the power.

I haven't done a real cliff hanger in a long time, next chapter we'll get to know more about Keitaro, and we might reach the end of this Negation Arc (I feel good about calling it that.)


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto nor any characters or abilities created by Masashi Kishimoto. Original characters, abilities and bloodlines in this story (there will be) are mine. If someone out there thinks an ability or character of mine is cool and wishes to use it, feel free. I only ask that you give me credit.

**Date:** 07/25/08

**Summary:** While running from an angry mob on his birthday, seven-year-old Naruto finds himself in a strange land where a shinobi turned priest offers to train him as a ninja. Naruto eventually discovers there is more to the world then just shinobi when he unlocks his spiritual power. Not a super Naruto fic (I hate those ones) but more of a smart and wise Naruto fic.

**Reviews:** Please review. I enjoy reviews, even if its only one or two words. I do not appreciate flames. If you don't like this story, its concept, or my writing style then don't read it. Don't read it then complain to me about it.

Spiritual Fox  
Chapter 12: Other Dreams and Wisdom

When Naruto finally woke up he was alone, and that was strange because he shouldn't have. He'd finally crawled out of the river six miles down stream, he'd wanted to get to the other side of the waterway so he could meet up with the others easier. Swimming proved difficult, not only was he trying to carry someone unconscious, but his rage had subsided so he couldn't tap into the Kyuubi's power and because he was touching Keitaro he still couldn't use his own chakra. Eventually he was able to get them out, but he was exhausted afterwards. All he could do was pull the swordsman away from the water and tie him up with some wire, even in his weary state he knew that if the older boy woke up before him that the red head would undoubtedly kill the sleeping ninja if he could.

He'd fallen right to sleep without drying off, so it was strange that a boy who couldn't move would be able to leave somewhere. Even stranger was that Naruto found himself to be dry, and where ever he was wasn't near the river. Suddenly, a young boy of around seven years old raced past Naruto, he had short red hair and seemed to be intent on climbing a tree.

"Hey, where am I kid? Are your parents around somewhere?" The boy ignored Naruto in favor of climbing the tree. "Hey you brat, pay attention to me!"

"Kei!" A woman yelled. Naruto turned around to find a woman with red hair. She wasn't the most beautiful of women but she wasn't ugly either. She seemed to be in her late 20's or early 30's. "You don't have to get it for me, I'm sure your father will be able to get it when he's done with work." Naruto finally noticed a scarf caught in the tree.

"No way, that scar's important to you. Dad might be a while, so I'll get it for your." The child was already halfway to the scarf. The woman just looked on with worry but didn't say anything else.

Finally Naruto asked the woman, "Hey, did your husband bring me here?" However, the woman didn't answer. It was like she couldn't see or hear the blond, that he didn't even exist. The boy had finally grabbed the scarf and began climbing down but when he got down to the last branch he slipped and began to fall. The woman clamped her hands over her mouth and watched, but something raced past her. It was a man, about the same age as the woman, and he caught the boy right before he hit the ground.

The man was handsome and tall, Naruto could tell that this was the boy's father. The child looked just like him, except the man's hair color was black and the boy got his red hair from his mother. Now that he was ground level, Naruto could tell the child's eye's were a hazel color… _Hazel eyes, red hair, and his mother called him Kei._

The man set the boy on the ground. "Wow Dad, that was cool! You just appeared and saved me like a story book hero!" The child looked up at his father in awe.

"Of course, I'm a powerful swordsman. I always show up at the last minute when someone's in danger."

The child just laughed, but woman just glared at her husband and said, "You were watching the entire time he climbed that tree, weren't you?"

"Ouch, a clean hit." He looked fairly guilty as he replied. "What gave me away?"

"You never have good timing, Matsu. Remember when I gave birth to Keitaro?"

Matsu looked pained as he said, "You're never going to let me live that down, are you Ayame?"

The young red head looked between his parents and said, "What happened?"

"You're father finally showed up a minute **after** I gave birth to you." Ayame glared at her husband, and now the man's son was glaring too.

"That doesn't sound very heroic or like a great swordsman to me." The so-called great swordsman seemed to wilt under the two glares.

"I already apologies at least a hundred times!"

Little Keitaro just smiled again and hugged his dad. "It's ok, I still love you dad."

Then everything changed before Naruto's eyes. The people disappeared, and Naruto was suddenly in a new location. "Ok Keitaro," Turning around, the blond found the Matsu and Keitaro behind him. "It's about time for me to teach you swords work. Now, normally I'd teach you other things first, but I can't because of your powers."

"You mean because of my Negation powers, right?" the child asked innocently.

The adult actually glared at his child. "We've told you, Kei, never speak of that. If ninja's found out about it they'd lock you up and experiment on you at the very least." The man's eyes softened and he picked up the child and began hugging him. "And if something like that happened to you then daddy would cry his eyes out every night!"

The boy seemed worried about that. "Please don't cry daddy! I promise I won't talk about my power again!"

Naruto looked on as the two began training, and another voice spoke. "I didn't expect to see you in a place like this, little Naru."

The genin turned to find Yoshi standing next to him. The man was wearing his standard robes, and he still had that smile on his face. "Sensei, how'd you get here? I didn't hear you walk up?"

"Of course you wouldn't. I didn't walk, I leapt." _Huh?_ the child thought. The priest seemed to understand. "We've met like this once before, Naruto."

_Once before…_ "Does that mean I'm dreaming?" The man nodded, but Naruto looked at the two people training and wondered, "Why am I having a dream like this? About that Keitaro guy?"

"Simple, this isn't your dream, it's his. It's not that uncommon for someone with spiritual powers to unintentionally connect to someone else's dream. It takes a lot of time and practice to learn to do it when ever you want."

"Then, these are his memories?" Naruto looked on at the training. "I shouldn't be seeing this."

"Perhaps, and perhaps not." The priest gave his usually smile. "There's no such thing as coincidence, there is only Hitsuzen. You are here because you are suppose to be here." The man suddenly frowned and said. "And from the feel of things, this dream is about to become a nightmare." Suddenly, Yoshi vanished and the scene changed again, only this time it was dark and menacing.

He was in a small village, except there were bodies in the street, their blood making pools on the ground. There was a group of bandits who'd been running rampant, and apparently both Matsu and Aya had been caught. Keitaro was watching the horror unfold right before his eyes. The red head was older, so this couldn't have been more then two or three year ago. One of the thugs kicked Matsu to the ground. "Man, there's nothing like someone who won't fight back. And it's all because of this woman here." With Ayame threatened, Matsu didn't have a choice but to surrender.

"The best hostage is a useful hostage." Out of a building came the leader, everyone seemed to look at him with respect. He had medium height and his face was covered by half a mask. The uncovered sided seemed heavily scared, so he didn't have much in the way of looks. Around the man's forehead was the headband for the Hidden Grass, but it had a slash through it marking him as a missing nin. "I'd heard a retired Kusa nin lived in this village, and that his swordsmanship was one of the best around, but this guy's just weak. He's not good enough to work under me." Without hesitation, the bandit leader threw a kunai which pierced the swordsman throat. Ayame gave a yelp as her eyes began watering over. However, soon another was buried in her heart. She began clutching at the knife that was taking her life as the rogue shinobi gave a sadistic smile and said, "And I'm not interested in disgusting hags like you."

"Hey boss, just because you don't like 'em doesn't mean the rest of us wouldn't enjoy her." One of the men gave his boss a reproachful look.

Further conversation was cut off when a young voice gave a war cry and Keitaro ran up to attack them. The leader rushed forward and gave the child a quick punch to the gut causing the boy collapsed on the man's arm and couldn't get up. Despite training the boy in sword work, Matsu had never actually gone all out and hurt his son. With tears leaking from his eyes, Keitaro asked, "Why? Why did you kill them?" The boy looked at his parents, they'd lost far too much blood to still be alive.

With a smirk, the masked shinobi asked, "What, did I just kill your mommy and daddy?"

"I asked you why you killed them!"

"Simple, because I wanted to." The child couldn't seem to grasp what the man was saying and he just continued. "I'm a ninja, and ninja's are killers. Our whole lives revolve around death, killing is the only thing we know. It's our greatest joy, we kill who we're ordered to kill and when we run out of targets we murder whoever we want. That's what makes a shinobi a shinobi." Naruto wasn't able to anything. It was only a dream, a memory, so he couldn't jump in and try to help. He couldn't tell the boy that the bandit was only lying, or that there were many shinobi who helped save people's lives.

All Naruto could do was watch as Keitaro's eyes became dark and hateful. "I'll kill you." It was little more then a whisper at first, but then the child screamed, "I'LL KILL YOU! You and every shinobi I can find, I'll kill all of you bastards!"

The masked man only laughed, "You'll kill every shinobi alive?" The glare in the child's eyes seemed like enough of an answer. "I like you kid, so I'll let you live. Besides, if you're going to 'kill all shinobi' then one day you'll kill off Hidden Grass. You'll be doing me a favor." He paused and finally gave his name, "I'm Yukio Kasure kid, come and find me when you're ready to kill me." Yukio only laughed like he believed Keitaro would never be strong enough to do so. "Lets move out men!" The bandits walked off, leaving Keitaro with hateful tears in his eyes.

Naruto had had enough, he did his best to wake up, and eventually he was successful. He found himself still on the riverbed with Keitaro still tied up next to him. The blond felt something on his face and when he tried to wipe it off he found it was tears. Looking over at his captive, Naruto tried to decide what to do next.

* * *

Kakashi wasn't sure what to do. The nin dog wasn't back from finding Naruto, and it was getting dark. They'd crossed over to the Kusa side of the river, and it was getting dark so they were risking attack. The Copy Ninja's wounds were starting to heal, but it wasn't enough to help if a fight got serious. The only one who wasn't injured was Sakura, but she wasn't the strongest of their group. Sasuke only had light wounds, and with his new Sharingan he'd become even stronger. Keiji injuries weren't as serious as Kakashi's, but that didn't mean he'd be useful in a fight any time soon.

Sasuke and Sakura were doing chores around the camp and the merchant came to check on his most wounded guard. "Doing any better?"

"A little, I'm just happy to have access to my chakra again." The jonin smiled and the merchant smiled back.

The gruff man gained a distant look and finally said, "I was a Konoha nin for a long time before I became a merchant. I remember hearing about a powerful Grass Ninja who used twin swords. His skills in jutsu were top notch, and his kenjutsu was extraordinary. His name was Matsu Juino." Kakashi recognized the family name, Keitaro had claimed it as his own. "Everyone seemed to think the man would one day become leader of Kusa, but he surprised Grass by asking to leave the shinobi world. According to rumor, he fell in love with a young woman who didn't want to be with a ninja so he gave up that part of his life. I never thought that rumor could be true, but now I think it might be."

Kakashi seemed to understand, "If that swordsman married someone with the Negation power, then he couldn't stay on as a shinobi. It may be discovered that his wife had the strange power, and if the ability was passed on to his son then it would be the same. If their power became known, at best they'd be killed outright and at worst they'd be tortured for the rest of their lives in the name of science. Neither option would be something I'd want for a loved one." Kakashi paused and thought of the teen's behavior. "Did something happen to Matsu and his family?"

"About two years ago a rouge Kusa nin attacked the village where the Juino family lived. They slaughtered nearly the entire town it was confirmed that Matsu and his wife were killed. Actually, it was confirmed by me." Kakashi seemed surprised so the merchant elaborated. "That village was one of the ones on my supply route, I'd actually met Matsu one or two times, but never anyone else in his family.

"The last time I'd stopped at the village was right after the attack. It was a complete bloodbath, there was hardly anyone left alive. The ones who attacked were lead by the rouge Yukio Kasure, who was well known for his love of killing. Kusa nin hunters are still searching for him for his killing sprees."

Sasuke and Sakura came over to discuss the situation with their injured teacher. "What are we going to do about Naruto?" The boy asked. Kakashi had asked the merchant not to talk about Naurto's transformation, and Keiji agreed to be silent but only after the jonin told him what the blond was. Neither Sasuke nor Sakura were told about the end of the fight. Sasuke wouldn't be able to cope with the idea of Naruto beating a foe he himself could not defeat and Sakura would blab in a heart beat. They were both told Naruto and Keitaro were fighting but the cliff collapsed and they both fell in. The twin swords the child had left behind were in the head wagon with Mr. Takuro.

"Well," Keiji responded. "The only options we have are to either wait here, go find him, or travel ahead and let the brat catch up."

Sakura thought for a moment and said, "If we went looking for Naruto, we wouldn't be able to take the caravan with us, but we can't just go off and leave this thing unprotected. Likewise, we can't just leave without the stupid blond, he's our teammate."

"It shouldn't take that moron more then a day to catch up with us, so can we just wait for a couple of days here?" Sasuke seemed slightly worried as well. "Then if he doesn't show up we can either go find him or just leave and come back."

Keiji seemed to agree with the young Uchiha. "That seems like the best choice. It'll give Kakashi a chance to recover, and the dog he sent out will make sure Naruto is headed the right direction." He looked at the Copy Nin and asked, "Can you set up some dog sentries for us? I don't trust that swordsman to have killed off all of the bandits in the forest." With a nod, Kakashi bit his finger and summoned out several nin-dogs and instructed them to guard their perimeter.

"Good, I'll take the night watch. The rest of you get some sleep and recover your strength, you never know when you'll need it." The team just nodded and went to sleep, even Kakashi decided to lightly rest. Keiji spent the night contemplating how much to pay his guards, this mission was turning into something far more dangerous then a simple C-ranked mission.

* * *

Keitaro finally awoke from his nightmares about ten minutes after Naruto. Ever since his family had been killed the same nightmares had been plaguing him, never letting him forget his pain. It was the first time, however, that he ever awoke to a fire he didn't start while having his arms and legs bound. He also noticed his wound had been treated by someone, presumably the same person who started the fire and tied him up. Looking around, he eventually saw Naruto cooking something over the fire, where he got the pot Keitaro didn't know. The sword less swordsman glared at his captor and said, "What the hell are you doing you bastard?"

"Good, your awake. My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I just finished making something to eat, you want some?"

"Are you planning on torturing me or something?" Even when first awake, the red head was guarded.

"I planned on feeding you, and my cooking is good so it's not torture." The blond had a pleasant smile on his face, like he was just talking to a good friend and not someone who'd just tried to kill him.

"Then I bet that stuff is poisoned, your just some sadistic freak right?" That comment earned the man a whack on the head with a ladle. "What do you think your doing hitting me for you damn ninja!"

"Any self respecting cook would have done the same after that accusation." Even though the boy's words seemed calm there was a feeling of anger which surrounded the blond that made even Keitaro uneasy. "I may be a ninja, but I don't kill people if there's no reason. Right now you're captured and can't hurt me so there's no reason for you to die. I have no doubt that one day I'll have to kill someone, but killing a completely helpless enemy just isn't my style. Now, for the last time, do you want anything to eat?" The swordsman was left speechless. Taking his silence for a no, Naruto poured a bowl for himself and began eating. There were no spoons so he just drank right out of the bowl.

Needless to say, Keitaro had never met anyone like this before and he really didn't know what to do. Here was a ninja who was calmly sitting in front of him eating soup and offering to share a meal with him. Granted, he hadn't actually talked with any ninja before but that just made the event completely unprecedented. Watching Naruto eat made things worse, his stomach started growling much to his embarrassment. He'd skipped breakfast in favor of training and had forgotten to have lunch after he'd found the caravan and it's guards. His last meal had been dinner so his stomach was being annoyingly loud. Keitaro had fasted before as part of training, but to have food sitting in front of you (especially when it looks and smells delicious) and then to have someone else eat it… _This is torture, damn it!_

Eventually he gave in, "Can I have a bowl of soup?"

Naruto decided to be slightly cruel. "What was that?" He cupped a hand to his ear. "I could barely hear you, and it didn't sound like it ended with the magic word."

_Stupid jack off of a bastard!_ Swallowing his pride even more, the red head asked even louder, "May I have a bowl of soup, please?"

With a smile, the genin answered, "Why of course you may." Naruto dished out another bowl of soup and walked over to his captive. "Now I'm willing to untie your hands, but first you have to do something first."

Eyeing Naruto warily, the swordsman answered, "What do I have to do?"

"Swear on your honor, your life, and your ancestors that you will not attack me, will not try to escape, and will let me rebind you after you're done eating. If you don't then I'll just hand feed you like an infant."

Being treated like a baby was too humiliating a thought, and his hunger was growing so Kei gave in. "All right, I swear."

"What do you swear?" Naruto was eyeing him suspiciously, not trusting the teen's words at face value.

_Wow, this guy's careful._ It actually raised his opinion of the ninja to know he wasn't a complete idiot. "I swear on my honor, life and ancestors that if you unbind my hands so I can eat I will not attack you, I will not try to escape, and I will let you retie me after I'm done eating." Naruto was looking directly into his captives eyes and it gave Keitaro the strangest feeling. It was almost as if the ninja's eyes could see past his body and right into his mind and soul, it was a feeling even Yukio hadn't given him.

With a nod, Naruto placed the bowl in front of Keitaro and went around him to untie his hands. He knew the swordsman would keep his word, it wasn't just a feeling, it was also his Spirit Sight. He could see into the man's soul and know if he was lying or not, and the red head's aura had flicker with lies or killer intent.

Once Kei was untied, Naruto returned to his bowl while his captive began drinking his own soup. They stayed that way for a few minutes until Keitaro finally let his curiosity boil over. "Hey, why exactly are you doing this?" A questioning look from Naruto forced the man to continue. "Even if you didn't want to kill me, you could have just left me lying on the river bank. Instead, you've treated my wounds and made me some food. I tried to kill you and your friends, so why?" It was driving the teen crazy, a ninja was being kind and trusting to someone who tried to murder his friends and himself. But here was a genin treating him like he was a regular guy.

Naruto paused from eating and after a moment he answered, "It kind of hard to explain, and you might take offence, but you just seemed too lonely to just leave or kill."

"What?" The swordsman was completely stunned.

"Hating everything, constantly being angry, never smiling because your happy, that kind of life just seems too lonely for anyone."

"What the hell would you know about something like that! Have you ever had someone kill your family before your very eyes?" Kei threw his bowl down on the ground spilling his meal, but he didn't care. What Naruto was saying was completely freaking him out.

"No, because for the first part of my life I never had any family at all." That quickly shut the red haired teen's mouth. "Everyone in my village seemed to hate me, I didn't have any family and no friends to turn to, so I grew up alone and constantly hating everything. I created a perfect fake smile to hide my feelings, to hide my anger and hate, but living that way was so lonely and painful that I cried myself to sleep almost every night. How could I possibly leave someone who's like that?" Looking down at the bowl on the ground, Naruto asked, "So, did you want any more food?" Silence was Keitaro's response, so the blond quietly redid the bindings. As promised, the swordsman let himself be tied up but half of that was because Naruto's words had affected him deeply.

A few minutes after Naruto had re-tied Keitaro and had eaten most of the soup, a strange dog jumped into the area. For a moment nobody said anything, then the animal finally spoke, "You, blonde, your Naruto right?"

"What the hell?" Both of the boy's were completely thrown off guard and shouted together.

Eventually Naruto remembered about summons, "You're some kind of summon creature, right?"

The dog nodded his head, "Yep, Kakashi summoned me to find you and guide you back." The hound sat down and began scratching his behind his ear. "And you," he looked over at the captive. "You're the one who attacked the caravan, I recognize your scent. Why exactly did you save his life Naruto?"

It was a question that had bothered Keitaro too. Naruto just looked at the animal and replied, "I saved him because I wanted to save him. End of story."

"I know Kakashi thinks you're a little strange, but I doubt he knows just how strange you are." After giving him a disbelieving look, the animal began sniffing the air. "It seems like they're camping for the night at the river. We could probably get there in a few hours if we hurry."

With a shake of his head, Naruto replied, "I think I'll stay here for the night and head out in the morning, it'll be safer that way. What's your name again, dog?"

"Pannku."

"Right. There's some soup left if you want some, Pannku." Naruto used Kei's discarded bowl to serve soup to the summoned creature.

The animal sniffed the food, then began eating with great vigor. When Pannku was finished, Naruto took everything to the river and washed it off. He didn't have any soup on him but it was better then doing nothing. After Naruto got back from washing, a thought occurred to the swordsman. "Naruto, where did the pot and everything come from? You didn't have that stuff on you when we were fighting."

Naruto smiled as he answered, "I had it sealed on me." The boy took out a scroll which had some characters written on it. "After I became a ninja, I looked into different seals and learned a few basic ones for sealing objects and food. I thought it would be useful." Keitaro looked impressed despite himself. He only thought different jutsu could kill people, he never guessed there could be ones with other abilities. Needless to say, the child had lived a very

Pannku watched as Naruto sealed his cookware into the scroll and found himself approving. "Rudimentary and a little sloppy, but effective."

In truth, it was just the sealing techniques Yoshi had taught him, but he'd never admit he'd learned the jutsu before going through the ninja academy. "We'll head back to the others tomorrow morning, ok Pannku?" The dog nodded proceeded to lay down in a comfortable position. "And I'll decided what to do with you in the morning, Mr. Juino"

"Fine." Keitaro wanted to spend at least part of the night thinking over everything. In one day, he not only had been defeated (he still needed to find out about that strange chakra of Naruto's) but he'd also had every assumption he'd ever had about ninja's be turned upside down. His parents had always kept him away from ninjas and the village he'd grown up in hadn't been a ninja village. Hell, he'd never had much experience with other people in the village because his parents were afraid of someone finding out about his abilities. The first ninja he'd ever encountered was Yukio so he'd just assumed that all shinobi were like him. But now after meeting Naruto he wasn't so sure about that fact.

"Naruto." The blond's head perked up. "How many different types of ninja are there?"

The blond seemed to think for a moment before answering. "Too many to count. If your talking about the types of jutsu there are you can have hundreds of different ninja. But if your talking about personality, then there isn't any one type of ninja. Shinobi are suppose to be useful tools to their leaders, absolutely loyal and emotionless, but at their core they're still human. Its impossible for anyone to become emotionally void, the best most people can do is just to bury them. In Konoha they teach us to focus on protecting people who are important to us, rather then make us into loyal drones who love to kill. Hell, half the time when someone loves to murder they become missing ninja instead of loyal ninja."

"Missing nin?" Kei was confused by the term.

"Rouge shinobi who turned against their village. Their make a slash through their headband symbol to mark themselves as such." Naruto pointed to his own headband for emphasis. However, the swordsman wasn't paying attention. He was remembering the slash in Yukio's headband.

"A few years ago, a shinobi and a group of bandits attacked my home and killed my family. He told me that all ninja were just killers who loved to murder anyone they could. At the time I didn't know anything about shinobi so I believed him, but I never knew he was a missing nin before. And after meeting you I…"

"Personally, I think its rare to find someone who actually enjoys killing." Naruto said. Pannku just watched the exchange with interest. "Some people do, but most shinobi don't kill unless their facing an enemy. Even if its an enemy, its not a pleasurable experience. I've never actually killed anyone before, so I don't have any experience, but I have killed animals and I know I didn't like that."

"I.. I want to kill that ninja, the one who murdered my family. I've been training for years to do it. Even if I've been mistaken about all the other shinobi in the world I'm not wrong about him."

Naruto just looked at the older boy and said, "If he really did those things, then I'm sure you are right, but do you think killing him will make you happy or proud?" Both Keitaro and Pannku looked at Naruto with surprise as the blond continued. "Will murdering him bring you joy or peace? And if your parents loved you, would they want you to live a life of hatred and anger just to get revenge for them?" Naruto could tell by his aura that the swordsman had never once thought of things like that before.

Pannku simply stared at Naruto in amazement. Kakashi had thought Naruto was smarter then he let on, but he didn't have a clue how smart and wise the boy seemed to be.

**(TBC)**

--

**A/N**: All right. No action in this chapter, but I think it's an ok job. The next update will be later then usual. I'm going on a trip for a few days so I won't be able to write.

Next time I'll finish up this Negation Arc.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto nor any characters or abilities created by Masashi Kishimoto. Original characters, abilities and bloodlines in this story (there will be) are mine. If someone out there thinks an ability or character of mine is cool and wishes to use it, feel free. I only ask that you give me credit.

**Date:** 08/08/08

**Summary:** While running from an angry mob on his birthday, seven-year-old Naruto finds himself in a strange land where a shinobi turned priest offers to train him as a ninja. Naruto eventually discovers there is more to the world then just shinobi when he unlocks his spiritual power. Not a super Naruto fic (I hate those ones) but more of a smart and wise Naruto fic.

**Reviews:** Please review. I enjoy reviews, even if its only one or two words. I do not appreciate flames. If you don't like this story, its concept, or my writing style then don't read it. Don't read it then complain to me about it.

Spiritual Fox  
Chapter 13: The Ending of a Nightmare

Eventually the two boys slept, Pannku offered to keep watch for the night. Even though the teen swordsman didn't seem to be as bloodthirsty as before, the dog still didn't trust him with Naruto's life. Judging from the way the man was still tied up, it was clear that blond felt the same.

Keitaro stayed up a while longer just looking at the younger blond, thinking on how he acted and what he said. For the longest time, Kei hadn't really thought about much. He'd felt anger and hatred, but he'd never taken the time to think rationally and it was only because of kindness shown to him by a ninja. _Have I been wrong this whole time? I've been training so I can wipe out as many ninja as I can, but is that the right goal for me to have?_

Truthfully, as a child Keitaro hadn't been hateful or angry so being that way for the previous years had been tough on him. However, he didn't know what to do after his family had died so he'd irrationally clung to the first thing that he'd felt which had been the anger and hate he'd felt at Yukio's words. It hadn't been healthy, nor did it make him happy, but he needed something to stop himself from falling completely apart. Attacking ninja's and bandits only perpetuated those negative feelings.

Meeting Naruto was a new experience for Kei. Even though he'd attacked his friends, the boy looked beyond the swordsman's mask and saw his pain. He'd talked to him like a friend and showed him kindness and attention, something he hadn't felt in years. It was quite a shock for the red head to be reminded of positive emotions, so much that he still didn't know what to do with himself. Eventually the teen laid down and decided to sleep on it, and as he was falling asleep Keitaro couldn't help but think that despite being tied up and not having a blanket, he was a little bit warmer then usual.

* * *

Kakashi and the rest of the team awoke at daybreak, the night had gone uninterrupted and with luck Naruto would show up sometime that day meaning they could get out of the damn forest. After the jonin dismissed his dogs, the group had breakfast and their wait began. Most of the caravan sat around playing games or doing chores, while the ninja decided to spar and train, Keiji volunteering to instruct the children while Kakashi recuperated.

Pannku still hadn't come back, so that meant Naruto was so far downstream that it'd taken that long to find him or the animal had found his target and was walking back. Kakashi refused to believe Naruto could be dead, the kid's stamina was probably at jonin level so he couldn't be too exhausted. He could swim, so it wasn't like he would drown. There was always the possibility of being captured, but Pannku would have come back to tell him about that.

Sasuke and Sakura were sparing, much to each others displeasure. Sasuke wanted to become stronger which he couldn't do while facing someone weaker then him, and Sakura only wanted to impress Sasuke and not spar against him. It was a frustrating situation for everyone, including Keiji who had to watch the two children's poor performance. The entire idea behind sparing was to find faults in your opponent's moves then exploit those weak points somewhere it wouldn't kill them which forces one to improve their skills. _These two just aren't doing this right. Sakura isn't even trying to hurt Sasuke so it doesn't improve his abilities, and Sasuke isn't doing much against Sakura either. At least when Naruto fights these two, he exploits the emo brat's weaknesses and tries to subtly improve Pinky's fighting ability. He's got the good of the team on his mind, he's trying improve them all and himself._

Suddenly, both Kakashi and Keiji's heads perked up and the merchant raised his hand to stop the children's "training". Sasuke noticed their odd behavior and asked, "What is it?"

Kakashi summoned a few nin-dogs while saying, "Bandits. A large group of them by the smell of it. They may not notice us, but we need to prepare if they do."

Sakura looked at the two and said, "You mean lay traps to try and thin out their numbers, right?"

Sasuke smirked their jonin instructor smiled. "Yep." One of the dogs talked to Kakashi and the man smiled wider. "Only a few of them are actual ninja, and their leader is the only one who's at my level. With a little luck, we can catch them off guard and take out a good chunk of them and finish off the rest by hand."

The children nodded then went off to place as many traps as possible. Kakashi went to set a few traps closer buy, while Keiji instructed the caravan to make regular defensive preparations while he went to set some traps of his own. He'd be damned if didn't defend his own wagons.

* * *

Naruto and his little group got up slightly before daybreak and ate some bread for the breakfast. He and Pannku wanted to leave as fast as possible so they didn't waste time making a fancy meal, and because it was just bread Keitaro was able to eat without being untied. Unfortunately they'd hit a slight snag in their preparations, namely Keitaro. "I want my swords back."

"I told you, you can't come with us. Can't you just get some other swords?" Naruto replied.

"No. Those swords belonged to my father, their not something I could ever replace. I need to get them back no mater what." Kei was glaring in that stubborn way which Naruto knew all too well. He gave that look to Yoshi dozens of times over the years.

_This is going to be a huge pain in the ass._ "Listen, if we went back my other teammates would, at best, lock you up and take you to the either Kusa or Konoha, where you'd be interrogated and then dissected because of your power. At worst, they'd kill you on the spot and throw your body in the river. Which would you prefer?"

"I'd prefer to either escape with my swords, or at least be buried with them. You can at least dig a grave for me right? With your Kage Bunshin it wouldn't be that much trouble."

That, however was the wrong thing to say. Naruto proceeded to hit the teen upside the head and replied, "I saved your life, you idiot! What makes you think I wouldn't be troubled by having to bury you after going through all that work. You'd better not get yourself killed anytime soon or I'll find a way to torture your soul in the afterlife." After all the hard work he'd done, Naruto wasn't about to let it all go to waste even for an important keepsake, and with his new Spirit Powers, Naruto was sure he could find a way to go through with his threat.

Sighing, Keitaro answered, "Fine, I won't die but I still wana try getting my swords back. I won't attack you or take away you're chakra, so can I go with you at least part way? Maybe we can work something out."

Naruto gave him an appraising glace before saying, "All right, I'll just untie your legs and we'll talk about how we could get your swords back." Those looks that Naruto kept giving him were highly unnerving. The teen had never met someone who seemed to look through you and see your very soul.

"Are you sure that's a good idea Naruto?" Pannku was wondering just how sane the blond was. Even if his anger had subsided, it could easily be a trick.

Fortunately, the blond wasn't phased by the dogs comment. "Of course it is. I know when to trust people, and Kei's telling the truth." If the swordsman had malicious intentions, it would've shown up in his aura. Right now, all Naruto could 'see' was curiosity in the red head.

Pannku gave a few sniffs Keitaro's direction before saying, "Fine." Even the nin-dog couldn't smell any danger coming from the boy, and it was difficult to trick his senses. With a nod, Naruto untied the teen's legs and the three of them began walking back. According to the dog, it would take most of the day to get back at that pace, giving Keitaro that much time to figure something out.

Naruto wanted time to get used to his new power, so he was perfectly happy to let the other boy slow him down. Having another human gave him some practice with close range feeling, it was disorienting to say the least. It was something connected to his sight, but not part of sight itself. He couldn't describe it very easily, but Naruto thought it was akin to someone who was blind or deaf their entire life suddenly gaining that sense.

And like Yoshi had warned, it wasn't just human aura's he could see and sense, but also other things as well. Ghosts were in the forest and now Naruto could see those too, even if he didn't want to. Luckily, the spirits hadn't taken notice of Naruto just yet, but when they did it would be too troublesome to describe. Yoshi had given him some talismans to ward off ghosts, but Naruto hadn't expected to awaken his powers so he'd left them at home. His only hope was that the ghosts wouldn't bother him too much until the mission was complete.

The group had traveled about a fourth of the way to the group when Naruto sensed something strange and Pannku sniffed something dangerous. Keitaro noticed their actions and asked, "What's wrong?"

After sniffing the air again, the dog answered, "Bandits. They're about to attack the caravan."

"They'll be fine." The red head didn't seem worried. "That Uchiha is strong, the girl is a ninja no matter what, the merchant is at least at a high chunin level, and that jonin is strong even if he is injured."

"Normally I'd agree with you." Answered Naruto. "But one of the bandits is a ninja is at Kakashi's level. The chances are good that everyone will be too tired from fighting the lower bandits to handle the more powerful ones."

Pannku gave another sniff and seemed disgusted as he spoke. "I concur with the boy. Their leader is strong, and he reeks of blood. He won't care about his minions or anyone under him. He'll sacrifice everyone to weaken his opponents, then go in for the kill himself."

Keitaro, however, has stopped listening after the dog had described the leader as "reeks of blood." It reminded him of another shinobi, someone he'd wanted to kill for a long time. After thinking for a few minutes, Keitaro finally said, "Untie me, and lets run."

Both Naruto and Pannku could feel the anger coming off the boy, but they also knew it wasn't directed at them or their team. Hesitantly, the genin asked, "Why? Is it about the bandits?"

"Yes. One of them may be someone I've been looking for. I need to know if it's him."

Keitaro looked directly into Naruto's eyes and waited for the younger boy to untie him. It was difficult for the blond to read an aura so focused on anger and revenge, so eventually Naruto asked, "Do you promise you won't harm me or my friends?" To which Kei just gave a quick nod and a "Yes." Naruto believed him and quickly untied the swordsman and the group of three was soon running to the aid of the Konoha shinobi.

* * *

The fighting started slightly away from the wagons, out of sight but close enough that the wagon drivers could call for help if they needed it. The ninja's plan of attack was fairly simple, first to thin out the bandits numbers with traps then to finish off the rest in combat.

The traps had started out well enough. The first wave of bandits weren't expecting traps, and they weren't shinobi trained so none of them survived. According to the dogs which Kakashi summoned there were 30 bandits in all. Most of them were grunts, weak non shinobi who only followed a strong leader, while 4 of them seemed to be at a various chunin levels. Their leader was as strong as Kakashi, and that was the main problem. The jonin was still injured and couldn't fight at full strength, so they needed some strategy.

Hence the traps, the first set were made by Sasuke and Sakura and were designed to kill off as many low level bandits as possible and draw out the upper bandits. Then if the stronger bandits stayed out front, they'd fall to the more complex traps set up by Kakashi and Keiji. And that part had gone perfectly, 12 of the lower bandits had died, while two of the upper bandits had fallen. Unfortunately the leader had done exactly what they'd expected, he sent out a group of lower members to act purely as minesweepers against the advanced traps, killing another eight of the non-shinobi but also clearing the area of danger.

The enemies were too alert for them to use a surprise attack so the group settled for a head on confrontation, Sakura aiming at the remaining non-shinobi. The regular bandits were simple enough to identify and defeat, they had the ratty and secondhand armor and weapons which either looked bad or didn't fit right because it wasn't made for them. Sasuke and Keiji were fighting the low level ninja bandits (With his Sharingan and chakra Sasuke could hold his own), and Kakashi trying to face the leader who'd named himself Yukio Kasure. While Sakura was able to fight the regular bandits, Sasuke and Keiji had trouble with their targets.

The Uchiha may have been the number one rookie, but his opponent was still at chunin level. The bandit was in his late thirties and wore some fancier shinobi attire, probably stolen from someone they attacked. There wasn't much special about his fighting style, but he was faster and stronger then Sasuke so that made everything difficult. The child was barely able to repel the bandits attacks, and since he didn't have much experience with his Sharingan, Sasuke couldn't use the eyes at their full potential. With his opponent being older and having more stamina, he was only fighting an uphill battle and stumbling badly.

Keiji was having problems of his own. His opponent was at a high chunin level, was in his early thirties. The man had black hair, wore a lightweight shirt and pants, and his stomach was wrapped in bandages. He used a unique one katana sword style which Kakashi had never seen before. If Keiji had still been a ninja, even with his injuries, it would have been an easy win but his years in retirement had deteriorated his skills to a chunin level. The good side was that his experience made up for his weakened abilities so he still had the advantage.

Kakashi's injuries made his fight much more difficult then normal. Yukio was exactly like his description said, his head was heavily scarred to the point where he had no hair and he wore a mask over half of his face. He was clothed in a tight fitting and black attire which showed his body was in extremely good physical condition and he had standard kunai and shuriken as well a claw attached to back of his right wrist. Even at full health Yukio would have been a tough opponent, while injured the man needed to use his Sharingan just to keep up with the masked and scared freak. The jonin's role was the most important too, none of the others were skilled enough to defeat the missing nin so if he lost then the others would undoubtedly loose to the man as well. Kakashi had at least hoped Keiji would be able to fight his opponent off quickly and come help him, but that didn't seem to be the case.

Sakura had finished off her group and attempted to help Sasuke, but with their lack of teamwork they ended up tripping over each other, becoming more of a hindrance. Keiji wasn't fairing better either. As much as it burned Kakashi's mind to even **think **the phrase, the bandit's youthful energy seemed to be giving him an edge against the retired ninja.

The jonin didn't know what to do. _My hands are tied with my fight._ The man dodged a fire jutsu. _I can't help the others and I won't be done anytime soon. If one of them looses, the bandits will gang up against the other ninja then they'll all fight the last member to submission._

While Kakashi fought and planned at the same time, his thoughts were interrupted by the coming of two familiar fighters, one which Kakashi was glad to see and another that the man never wanted to see again. Just as Sasuke and Sakura seemed to begin hurting badly against their bandit opponent, Naruto and a group of his clones rushed forward and gave them cover while the others got organized. Yukio and Kakashi were both surprised by the unexpected arrival, so they jumped apart watched what unfolded.

The arrival of Naruto turned the tide of battle. The blond genin was a powerful fighter, at a low chunin level while using his chakra, and with his clones he began overwhelming his opponent. Eventually, Sasuke and Sakura entered the fray, and the three of them seemed to fight better together then with only two of them. Their fight finally ended with Sasuke landing an uppercut with to the shinobi followed by Naruto using Wind Blast to knock out the man.

Keiji also got help, but from the most unexpected of sources. Keitaro of all people seemed to be aiding them, and he'd somehow retrieved his swords so he was fighting at full capacity. The teen's twin sword style seemed to be more then a match for the bandit's single sword. If what the merchant had told Kakashi was true, then the teen had learned his swordsmanship from one of the best while the bandit was probably a dropout of his blade work. If he wasn't then he wouldn't be a bandit in the first place. The sword bandit may have been a danger to a retired and out of shape shinobi like Keiji, but against someone younger and more skilled he became easy prey.

It wasn't much of a fight. After exchanging a few sword blows the bandit tried to initiate a jutsu but Keitaro used his favorite trick of expanding his negation field to confuse his opponent then striking when he was off guard. He wasn't toying with the bandit either, the man was dead before he knew what happened. After looking at Keiji for a few moments, the red head's gaze shifted over to Kakashi and his opponent. The jonin felt an extreme amount of anger radiating off the teen as he stared at the bandit. Finally he turned to the copy nin and said, "You're Kakashi right?" The man confirmed and Keitaro replied, "You sit back and rest. I'm going to fight this guy."

Yukio looked around at his fallen minions and said, "What a shame, now once I finish with you guys I'll have to go around and get more workers." The bandit that Naruto and his team had knocked out earlier groaned and began waking up, but Yukio just looked over at his body and said, "Useless idiot." With that, he threw a kunai at the man and pierced his heart effectively killing him.

Naruto and the others jumped back and stared at the bandit as his life drained out of him. Finally, Sakura yelled, "What the hell are you doing? If he was your follower then why'd you kill him?"

"Isn't it obvious little girl? If he was so weak that he couldn't win against a bunch of kids then he was just completely useless. Its better for trash like that to die then embarrass themselves."

Sakura was completely revolted, even Naruto and Sasuke looked disgusted by the man's actions. Keitaro just looked on at the man and finally said, "You never change you sick bastard."

The missing nin looked over at the red headed teen and asked, "Do I know you?" It only made the swordsman angry as Yukio continued, "Let me guess, I killed someone precious to you and now you want revenge. Do you know how many times fools like you have come trying to kill me? Too many times to count. Why don't you just kill yourself, its too much of a pain to keep killing avengers like you."

Kei didn't even respond to the man's words, he simply charged with his swords in hand. Despite the beating Naruto gave him, the swordsman wasn't slower then normal. His anger seemed to be giving him slightly more speed, but it wasn't enough against Yukio. Kakashi and the others continued to watch them fight, and the copy nin finally noticed another arrival, "How was the trip back, Pannku."

The dog looked up at his master and answered, "Poor. I don't like babysitting teenagers."

"You didn't notice you were being followed by that young swordsman the whole time?"

"Actually, he traveled with us." The animal elaborated after Kakashi gave him one of those, 'what the hell are you talking about' looks. "When I arrived, Naruto had the man tied up and was actually feeding the red head. I asked him why he saved the boy's live, and he just replied that he wanted to do it. When we told him about these bandits, he said he wanted to come with us and fight them. He swore that he wouldn't hurt any of our group, and he didn't smell like lies."

Eyeing the blond suspiciously, Kakashi asked, "What was Naruto thinking doing something like that?"

"I'm not sure, but I think he wanted to help that other boy." Pannku remembered what Naruto had said to Keitaro. "Try to keep a closer eye on that blond student of yours, Kakashi. He's far smarter and wiser then you probably give him credit for." With that the dog vanished leaving Kakashi alone with the animal's words.

He resumed watching the fight, and it was progressing exactly the same as Kakashi's fight with the boy. The bandit was dodging Keitaro's attacks, but he had yet to begin his offense. Just like the jonin did, Yukio made the signs for the replacement jutsu probably just to toy with his prey, but the younger red head noticed as well and the result was the same as before. Yukio didn't replace with anything, but was simply left with confusion and two wounds, one shallow wound to his chest and a deep debilitating wound to his leg.

It was the boy's strategy, to use his negation abilities to make someone drop their guard and then either outright kill an enemy or injure them to reduce their mobility. Without their freedom of movement, an opponent couldn't dodge as easily and it was harder to escape his negation field. It was a horrifically effective tactic which Kakashi had personal experience with. The difference between their wounds was that the jonin's was lighter, it was difficult to move but it would eventually heal without too many complications. Yukio's wound seemed deeper, probably cutting into the tendons in his upper leg. A wound like that would take a skilled medic to heal, and would require a few years rehab before it was back to normal. And judging from the enraged look Keitaro was getting, the missing nin knew that fact.

Yukio began fighting seriously after that, but the damage was already done. The swordsman was truly giving his all now that his negation field was up and preventing the missing nin from using his jutsu. With his wound and without his chakra to support him, Yukio found himself in the exact predicament that the jonin had been in, the man couldn't use ninjutsu or genjutsu and his taijutsu was weakened by his leg wound. Even if Keitaro did loose his fight, Kakashi was confident that he could win against the bandit with his current injuries. Of course, that was a humongous if. Yukio was getting more angry with every small blow the red head landed, and the angrier he was the less focused and more open his body was. In comparison, the teen's anger was stable and served only to better focus his mind, making it a positive thing.

It was a close battle, but eventually Keitaro gained the upper hand. Like most high level ninja's, when Yukio used his chakra it wasn't even a conscious effort anymore. There was almost never a situation where he couldn't access his chakra so he could let it's use become second nature. However, with Kei's power he **could** stop chakra use and that threw the bandit completely off balance. The missing nin's brain found it hard to adapt to working without chakra, his shuriken aim was constantly off from his arm not moving as fast as usual and the power behind his kunai and claw strikes were always lacking.

Eventually the bandit fell, Keitaro was able to slash the man's stomach and then kicked his chest. Yukio fell onto back and in the next instant the swordsman stabbed one of his swords through his arm and held the other to the bandit's throat. The two stay like that for a second with all the ninja in the area watching. The teen had gotten through the fight with only a few minor injuries, but he looked tired. He was covered with sweat, and his breathing was labored. It showed the vast difference between the two's endurance, Yukio was injured and pinned, but he didn't seem nearly as worn out as his opponent. While Keitaro was looking down on him, the missing nin said, "What's the matter, didn't you want to kill me? I could tell by the look in your eyes that you wanted revenge. I never actually thought you'd be able to defeat me, but I was at too much a disadvantage without my chakra. That was your doing right?" Kei nodded and Yukio's scarred face just smiled back. "Then do it. I lost so that means I die."

As the red head's breathing calmed down, he shifted his gaze and looked at the other people in the area. They were almost all injured, all victims of the bloodthirsty ninja. Seeing the others, Sasuke, Sakura, Keiji and Kakashi all watching calmly from the sidelines, made Keitaro's anger rise. Then he looked at Naruto and he began thinking again. Naruto was watching him expectantly, and he had a worried look about him and it caused Keitaro to remember what the boy had asked him, _"Do you think killing him will make you happy?" _He looked back at the ninja under him and saw something different.

"Two years ago you killed my entire family, and since then I've wanted to kill you. I've trained as hard as I could and killed quite a few people in the process, and in that entire time I've never once been happy. Even if I killed you now it wouldn't change anything." The missing nin couldn't seem to comprehend what the teen was saying. He'd been expecting the boy to just kill him, not to toy with him like this. Kakashi and the rest of his group were all just as surprised, all except for Naruto. The blond seemed to be happy with the way things were progressing.

"You know, I used to think that you were the most disgusting and evil being on this earth, but now looking at you, I just see a pathetic fool wanting to die. I won't kill you now, but I'll put it off. I'll take you to Kusa and let them do what they want with you. If you get locked up then escape, I'll just hunt you down and kill you then."

"Your… Your not going to kill me?" The man couldn't seem to believe what was happening.

"No." He pull the sword out of the bandit's arm. "I'll tie you up and turn you in instead. I'm tired of letting revenge dictate my life. I'm tired of having revenge be the most important thing to me. If I have to kill you, then I'll just do it later."

"I won't let you." The look in Yukio's eye seemed was completely crazed. "I won't let you have what you want. If you won't kill me then I'll take what you want away." With that the ninja took a knife out with his good hand. Keitaro brought his swords up to defend but the action was completely unnecessary, instead of attacking the bandit pierced his own heart with the dagger. The masked bandit actually seemed happy, he smiled as he said, "There. You'll never get your revenge now. I've taken it away from you."

The smile on the man's face didn't last long. What the teen said next wiped it off his face, "You really are a pathetic fool, you don't understand a damn thing."

"What?"

"Revenge isn't my ultimate goal any more, its just a step along the way. A step that can be easily skipped. Now, I don't care who kills you."

Yukio looked both disbelieving and angry. He spat up some blood as he spoke, "Even though I killed your family?"

While calmly looking at the dying man in front of him, Keitaro answered, "Yes. My parents loved me, they wouldn't want me to be miserable and revenge driven on their behalf."

The missing nin's eye was full of loathing and hate, his body was quickly draining of energy, so much that he was only able to say, "Damn you, you little bastard." As last words went, they were very pathetic.

* * *

Back at the caravan, everyone seemed to be recuperating just fine. They'd burned most of the bandit's bodies, keeping Yukio's wrapped up in order to claim the bounty on him. The real discussion was what to do with Keitaro. Said child was currently tied up and sitting inside of a wagon, waiting for the others to decided what to do with him. He'd tried to kill them, but he'd also helped them, and he'd willingly gone into restraints after his fight with the missing nin. They were in a jam about what to do with the teen, they all tried to weigh the risks and decided what to do: kill him, take him back to Konoha, or even just letting the boy go (Naruto's suggestion).

Sasuke was watching over the swordsman, but even he could tell that Keitaro was different. His anger seemed to be gone, granted the source of his anger was dead but he didn't even land the killing blow. If something like that happened to Sasuke, he didn't know what he would do with himself. Finally, Sasuke asked what was on his mind. "Hey," Kei looked over at the Uchiha. "That stuff you said to Yukio, about not wanting revenge, did you just say that to make him angry?"

The teen stared at the ninja for a few seconds before answering, "I meant every word of it." Seeing the disbelieving look on Sasuke's face, the teen continued. "It may be hard to believe, especially from the way I was acting yesterday, but it's the truth. It's been building up in my mind for a while now. I've never been one to be angry and hateful, but I didn't know what else to do. My family had been my entire world, so when they died everything seemed to completely fall apart. I didn't have any other friends or family to center myself, so I just irrationally clung to hatred, of ninja in general and Yukio in specific. After a while, I calmed down but hating had become such a habit that I didn't know what else to do.

"However, even at the beginning, even in my hate filled mind I knew that Yukio was lying to me about ninja's all being soulless killers. I remember my father telling me about some of his time as a ninja and he wasn't cruel or evil in the slightest. But, like I said before, I didn't know what else to do so I tried to forget about that. I think it those things were always in the back of my mind, that revenge wouldn't make me happy and that killing wouldn't change anything, but I just ignored it because being angry had become a habit. Right now, I'm just tiered. I've been hating for a long time, and its exhausting to keep hating like that."

Sasuke didn't know how to respond to something like that. It seemed to resemble his own past, except the teen had chosen to give up his revenge when he could have easily taken it. The raven haired genin didn't really want to think on the other man's actions, so he decided to ask another question. "The others are discussing what to do with you, whether or not to kill you."

"I know that." The teen replied calmly.

"So, does that mean you don't really care if you die anymore?" That's what his actions looked like to Sasuke.

"Its not that. I truly want to live, but I attacked harmed your group. I deserve some sort of punishment for all the harm I've caused, not just to you but to everyone I've injured or killed. If your group decides to kill me or imprison me, then I'll be fine with that." Keitaro closed his eyes like it was the end of the discussion.

Eventually Keiji climbed into the wagon to discuss the boy's punishment and ushered Sasuke out so they could talk privately. "Keitaro, though you did help us against the bandits, when we first met you tried to kill all of us. Granted, you don't seem to be angry or hate filled anymore, but we can't let you wander off by yourself. Therefore, you have two choices. One, you'll go back to Konoha with Kakashi where you'll be locked away for an indeterminate amount of time. The second option is to come work for me." Keitaro seemed to be just as shocked as Sasuke by the option. "I'll keep watch over you personally, and make sure you don't cause anymore trouble. You'll work for me, help defend my caravan, and in the future you might even help my trade negotiations. Those are your options."

"You're really letting me choose?" The merchant nodded. Kei thought for a second before answering, "I think I should be locked up."

Keiji gave the child a long and hard look before asking, "Are you doing this to try and repent for your past?" The child nodded and the older man just sighed. "Kid, do you know why I decided to become a merchant of medical supplies?" Keitaro shook his head, wondering where this was leading. "Its because I wanted to repent for my past. I've killed more people then you've ever dreamed. I harmed and uncountable number of people, when my shinobi carrier ended, I seriously thought about killing myself to repent for what I'd done. But somehow I realized that even if I died, it wouldn't erase the past. I chose to devote the rest of my life to something that would save others instead of just ending my own life. I poured my life into ensuring smaller villages would continue to have quality medical supplies. You knew that killing Yukio wouldn't change his past, but realize that sacrificing yourself won't change yours either." He bent down to where Keitaro was kneeling and looked directly into his eyes. "Now, I'll ask you again, what do you want to do?"

The red head was a little confused, but he knew that the older man was telling the truth. With tears building in his eyes, he replied, "I want to live. I want to repent. I want to go with you."

Keiji smiled at the boy and ruffled his hair while saying, "Then that's what we'll do brat."

Keitaro couldn't help but feel warm inside, it had been a long time since he'd felt that warm.

**(TBC)**

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* * *

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A/N:

What? I'm a sucker for a happy ending. The fight scenes could have been better, but it would have taken a long time to write out the details for three different fights.

Here's some info on the Negation ability that I neglected to mention or may have been confusing. The ability to negate chakra use is constantly on inside the person, so they themselves can never develop and use their chakra. The ability to expand the field outside of one's body is a conscious effort which drains one's physical energy, the farther the field is expanded the more strength is drained out of someone. The 15 meter limit is just the point where a trained adult can hold the field without loosing too much strength, any larger and the drain will increase to the point where it's no longer cost effective.

All right, I'm back and in the swing of things again. It was hard to get back into writing after the vacation, but now I think I'll be ok. Next time, Naruto has to learn how to deal with his new powers in a place overcrowded with people. It'll be tough. We might get into the chunin exam too. Later.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto nor any characters or abilities created by Masashi Kishimoto. Original characters, abilities and bloodlines in this story (there will be) are mine. If someone out there thinks an ability or character of mine is cool and wishes to use it, feel free. I only ask that you give me credit.

**Date:** 08/19/08

**Summary:** While running from an angry mob on his birthday, seven-year-old Naruto finds himself in a strange land where a shinobi turned priest offers to train him as a ninja. Naruto eventually discovers there is more to the world then just shinobi when he unlocks his spiritual power. Not a super Naruto fic (I hate those ones) but more of a smart and wise Naruto fic.

**Reviews:** Please review. I enjoy reviews, even if its only one or two words. I do not appreciate flames. If you don't like this story, its concept, or my writing style then don't read it. Don't read it then complain to me about it.

Spiritual Fox  
Chapter 14: Ghosts and an Exam

One month had passed since Naruto returned from the caravan mission, and he was finally feeling well enough to willingly go out and do something. Their job had ended well, Kakashi had rested for another day or so before they moved into Kusa territory and parted from the merchant. Keitaro had taken it upon himself to care for the man who he'd injured, it made things easier for the rest of the caravan to have another guard to replace and look after the jonin. Sakura and Sasuke didn't seem to trust the older teen but that was understandable and Keitaro didn't say anything about it.

When they finally got to the closest village Keiji declared their mission complete and decided to pay them in full. All the genin were surprised by that statement, even though they'd protected the wagons and supplies they'd forced their employer to fight with them, so they expected their pay to be less. When Naruto actually asked about it the old man admitted that he usually had to help with the guard duties in some way. He also said they'd done remarkably well for green rookies and that they'd helped him get a free permanent guard so he wouldn't have to fight as much.

Before they left, Kakashi told the swordsman that when he gave the Hokage their mission report that he'd have to tell the old man about him and his power. He left it unsaid that if the Hokage felt the teen was a threat he'd send ANBU after him, but Keitaro seemed to understand that was the case. They'd left them outside the village and the return trip had been swift, Naruto's illness didn't steam from his mission or an actual disease but from his new power.

It had been tough enough to have the ability when there was just the caravan and his team around, simply feeling that small group had put him on edge. Now that he was back in the village he was feeling things from hundreds of people and it completely overwhelmed him. Kakashi had taken the first three days back to get his wounds treated and recover, and Naruto didn't know what he would have done if he'd actually had to do work during those first few days because he literally couldn't do anything else except lay there and try to get used to all the interference from the towns people.

Nobody realized the true cause for Naruto's inactivity, they all just assumed it was emotional backlash from his first big mission. Iruka and Kazuma had come to see him after they found out he was back, and when they found he'd been ill they'd brought over groceries and ramen to cheer him up. After a week, Naruto felt well enough to invite his friend over so they could talk about their recent missions. Kazu had told him that his own teammates had complained to the Hokage and gotten their own guard mission. They'd gone to the Land of Waves to protect a bridge builder from bandits. He mentioned they'd run into the A-class ninja Zabuza and his underling Haku, but that his team and their jonin sensei had persevered and completed their mission.

His team wasn't made up of anyone special, just civilian born kids who trained their hardest to be ninjas. Kazuma was the second best of their year, a girl named Karin had been one of their midlevel students and another boy called Misaki had been a lower placing one, evening out the team nicely. However, despite how they faired in class, the others didn't seem to have much promise as shinobi. According to Kazu, they'd probably wouldn't advance past chunin level, and they wouldn't make chunin for a long time.

Now after a month of inactivity, Naruto felt stable enough to willingly leave the safety of his apartment and travel around during the day. He'd gone out for missions, his team was back to doing D ranked for a while, but after those were done he'd go back to his apartment to unwind. Naruto found that meditating helped calm his nerves so he was spending more time focusing his mind then his body. Then there were the talismans Yoshi had given him. They only looked like pieces of paper with writing on them, but they held special spirit qualities. He'd gotten five of them total, four were placed in the corners of his home to create a spirit barrier which helped block out the feel of others and warded away ghosts, making his house a safe haven.

Directly after their latest mission(pulling weeds) he'd planned to meet up with Kazuma and go to Ichiraku for dinner. Now all he needed was to talk Sasuke into going and the entire team could have some bonding time. "Come on Sasuke, your probably just going to eat dinner alone and that's never healthy. Eat with us, fresh ramen is always better then the instant stuff"

"Idiot, I'm not going out to eat. I have to train." Sakura squealed at how cool Sasuke looked when he talked.

"So you can kill someone, right?" The Uchiha brat nodded. Naruto got into a thinking pose before asking, "When exactly do you have to kill him?"

"What?" It wasn't what Sasuke was expecting his teammate to say.

"I know you say you have to kill someone, but when do you need to do it? Is it so soon that you don't have any time to relax?" Sasuke didn't know how to respond. He'd never thought the blond idiot would say something like that.

"Naruto, why are you upsetting Sasuke?" It was kinda strange to see the princess come to the rescue of her knight, but the blond found it amusing.

With a small smile on his face, Naruto waved off Sakura's glare. "I'm just asking a simple question, there's no need to get upset." Naruto looked Sasuke straight in the eye and said, "So, is there a deadline for your goal, or is it just free floating?"

Sasuke had begun hating looking at his teammate in the eyes. During their last mission he may have gained his Sharingan, but the blond had developed something else. Now when ever the shorter genin looked him in the eyes it made Sasuke feel like he could see into his mind and soul. "There's no time limit, but…" Suddenly, Sasuke really didn't know how to finish that sentence.

"Then what wrong with taking a few hours off and having dinner with friends? Its good to let your body relax and have fun once in a while. If you become so stressed that you get an ulcer then that'll be counterproductive."

It was only every once in a while, but Naruto had done this a couple of times. He'd ask Sasuke questions which seemed to help make his teammate think more about what he was doing instead of just hating and feeling. When he looked at Sasuke now, he saw someone exactly like Keitaro, someone in so much pain and misery that Naruto couldn't help but try to heal the boy's soul. This time, his words seemed to have the desired effect of both making Sasuke think and cohering him to accept his dinner invitation.

"…Fine. I'll go with you." The brunet really didn't want to have his teammate pestering him all day.

Sakura blushed and asked, "Can I come with you?"

Naruto smiled at the girl and answered "Sure. Once Kazu get here it'll be a group of four."

A familiar voice cut in, but it didn't sound very happy. "Make that six people."

Team 7 looked down the street and saw a few familiar faces. Kazuma was there, but he looked tired and worn out. The cause being his brother who was standing behind him. Hinata as also there, blushing and fidgeting nervously. Naruto's eyes widened when he looked at Hinata, it was the first time he'd seen her since he got back and it was a shock. He never knew that the girl liked him **that** way, but there was no mistaking what was in her aura.

His shock only registered for a moment before he waved at them. "Hey Kazu! What are Hinata and Haruko doing here?

"It is the most wonderful of tales young Naru-poppy." Haru, being himself, decided to answer the question. "Hinata came to our house and asked Kazu if you had gotten over your recent illness. When he confessed to your dinner date, he invited her to join your group. I, being a shining example of chivalry, could never just watch as a young girl went off to dinner, unescorted, with a couple of young men. Why, I could never allow such a delicate and beautiful young flower be defiled by a couple of rowdy boys."

"I'd never do something like that!" shouted Kazuma.

"Hence my current presence in your party. As you can see, such actions are quite unavoidable." Haruko's words seemed final and absolute.

Sasuke had dubious look about what the older boy was saying, and it looked like he was now regretting his decision to go along. Sakura looked the same, and Hinata didn't seem like she minded Haruko's company at all. Naruto thought having more people come made everything even better. "All right, lets go eat ramen!"

Within a few minutes, they were all at Ichiraku and having various ramen plates. Teuchi was happy to have his favorite customer back, and even more excited that he brought more people with him. Haruko seemed to have been there before and was talking with Ayame, apparently continuing an earlier discussion. Sakura had taken a seat next to Sasuke and was trying to get him to taste some of her ramen while Sasuke did his best to ignore the girl. Naruto had taken up a seat next to Haru, not minding the older boy's presence, with Kazuma sitting next to him and Hinata after the Ryuuza.

After finishing his first bowl (while everyone else was only halfway through their first), Naruto got his second serving and commented to Kazuma, "For someone who said he was going to protect Hinata from us, your brother doesn't seem to be doing his job very well."

They both looked over at Haruko who was still flirting with the server. "Big bro probably just wanted the food and the chance to talk to Ayame." Naruto returned to his noodles, slurping happily, and Kazu looked over at Hinata and saw the girl blushing while looking over both Haruko and Naruto. The black haired boy to smiled and said, "So do you like Naruto **and **my brother, Hinata?"

The girl looked over sharply at Kazuma and blushed even harder. "N-No, I don't…" If possible, she became redder as she said, "I do like Naruto, but I don't feel that way about your brother. I just admire him."

"Admire?" The boy began eating his noodles again. He knew many people liked his brother, but he didn't think Hinata would admire him.

"Yes, the confidence he displays is breathtaking. I wish I could have even half of that self-assurance. One day, I want to be overflowing with confidence, just like you brother." She had a wistful look on her face while she imagined herself with Haru's confidence.

The younger Ryuuza blew on his noodles and paused to say, "Nah, that's impossible."

The girl looked like Kazu had slapped her in the face, which was true enough, and said "What?! Why? Why can't my dream come true?"

"Haru's confidence is beyond that of mere mortals like you and me. You should set your sights a little lower." The two looked over at the other Ryuuza and watched him for a moment. The way he sat, the way he talked, even the way he **ate** screamed great confidence.

Hinata seemed to concede the point, "Maybe your right, but I can still dream." She closed her eyes and imagined herself finally asking Naruto on a date, a confident arua surrounding her. Naruto was halfway through his second bowl when he finally asked something completely out of the blue. "Hey, do any of you guys believe in ghosts?"

Everyone, even the works, stopped to look at the blond. It wasn't that it was an offensive question, but it **was** completely random. Eventually, Haruko asked, "Ghosts? I've personally never seen one, but I can't really say its impossible for a ghost to exist. Why do you ask little Naruto?"

"Lately I've just had some weird feelings, like something's there when there actually isn't. Has anyone else ever felt something like that?" Various no's and head shakes were the only responses the boy got. "Huh, maybe I've got some enemies watching me or something. If it was a ghost, does anyone know how to get rid of one?"

Hinata answered the question, "I haven't read anything concrete, but some sources say that ghosts appear because of some unfinished business, because their souls are restless. If you can calm that soul then, it should move on."

While nodding his head, Kazuma said, "It makes sense to me. If someone is hanging around someplace for a reason, then if they loose that reason then they'll leave."

Sakura asked, "Should we really be talking about stuff like this over dinner? It just seems creepy."

"Why not." To everyone's surprise, Sasuke was adding his two bits. "Its not like ghosts are real, so what's the harm?"

Naruto just smiled and continued eating his ramen while the conversation deteriorated. From ghosts, the conversation shifted to zombies and various other undead creatures. Once everyone was finished, they all went their separate ways to their homes. All except Naruto who made a detour to deal with something. He hadn't just asked everyone about ghosts for nothing, there were actually a ton of them wandering around Konoha and Naruto needed a way to deal with them.

The spirits didn't actually bother Naruto, the boy had a paper talisman that he wore to stop that from happening, but they were still visible. A lot of them seemed to be ghosts of ninja who died in various ways, not surprising for a shinobi village, but not all of them were like that. There was one which Naruto couldn't bring himself to ignore and that one was the ghost of a small child. Even being shinobi trained, the genin couldn't forget about that child, a little boy just sitting in the road apparently waiting for something. Naruto had known about the child for a week, and now he finally felt good enough to try doing something about it.

It was just on a side street, nowhere special but that made the child seem even more lonely. Thankfully, because the spirit was on a side street Naruto was able to talk to it without anyone witnessing the odd behavior.

Naruto arrived on the street and saw the lonely spirit. It looked about Konohamaru's age but that didn't mean it had only been around for that long. It was a boy and had short brown hair, he was sitting on the ground hugging his knees to its body. If it wasn't for the fact that it was transparent, the genin would assume it was just an ordinary child. Naruto spoke first, "Hey kid, what are you waiting around for?"

The spirit child looked up just stared at Naruto for a few seconds, giving the blond a clear look at his hazel colored eyes. Eventually he said, "My mom. She went out on a mission to protect the village. There's suppose to be some huge fox that's going to attack soon so my mom went out with a bunch of other ninja to try to stop it." Naruto had never spoken with a ghost before, it's voice had some faint echo quality that no human could possibly produce. "She always told me that when she went out on a mission that if I waited at home for her she'd be sure to come back." The boy glanced around before saying, "My house isn't here for some reason, but if I know she'll come back if I just wait long enough."

_This kid's been waiting here since the Kyuubi attack? And this part of the village got destroyed by the fox, so I guess they reconstructed it differently. I guess if I want this kid to move on that I'll have to make him realize he's already dead. _With a deep breath Naruto prepared a long list of questions for the child. "Kid, how long have you been waiting here?"

"For awhile." It was a valid reply, but Naruto pressed for details.

"Can you tell me specifically how long? Like how many hours?" The child looked like he wanted to answer, but had just realized he didn't know how to respond. "How about food? When's the last time you ate something?"

"The last time I ate? I…" But the words wouldn't come. The child couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten something.

"What about sleep? How often have you slept since waiting here?" The child was trembling at this point. Naruto was asking simple questions, but the boy just didn't know the answers. It scared him, not knowing the answers. "Kid, the demon fox attacked Konoha about 12 years ago. The chances are that you're home was destroyed and you died when that happened."

The child grabbed his head and began shaking it back and forth. "It can't be true, it can't be! I wana see mom again, she said that if I waited for her that she'd come back. She always comes back because I'm waiting for her. Dad's gone, but she has a reason to come home because I'm waiting for her." It looked like the child was crying, Naruto couldn't help but bend down and try to hold the boy.

"Listen, I don't know if your mom is still alive, but she won't be coming back here. There's somewhere else you need to wait for her, someplace where you belong now. Once you go there you'll be with your dad and your mom will show up there eventually. Then you'll all be happy together."

"Am I really dead?" The child looked at Naruto, hoping that he was just lying.

While nodding his head, the blond answered, "Yes. You're just a ghost now. You need to move on so you can be happy. You're mom won't find you here, but she will find you there." The boy smiled and closed his eyes, then he slowly faded away. When he was completely gone Naruto got up and looked to the sky. He didn't have any training in with exorcisms or spirit guidance, so all he could hope for was that the child had moved on properly.

* * *

Sarutobi was having one of those days again. The paperwork was mounting and he was distracted from his work. Even after a month, the discoveries of Team 7's last mission still plagued the council. The group taking on an A class missing nin wasn't so bad, but discovering a new Kekkei Genkai was something the Hokage had never expected to happen during their mission. Half the council wanted to capture the teen and see if they could use the ability in the village, the other half wanted to kill him outright before he could "breed and eventually kill them all". Luckily, neither half would give in, so Sarutobi got the final say. And that was to just leave the boy in the care of the retired shinobi and wait to see what happened. If nothing else, Sarutobi trusted Kakashi's judgment, that man had left the Keitaro alive so he was safe.

Then there was the problem with Naruto himself. The genin had appeared to be sick, except the medic who'd looked at the boy said there was nothing wrong with him. He hadn't been ill, nor was his problem mental. If the Hokage hadn't know any better, he would've said the blond was faking an illness for some reason. However, Naruto had never tried something like that, even during school when it would have mattered. He seemed to be recuperating, so it would probably stay a mystery for a while longer. Besides, he needed to focus on the newest headache and paperwork.

* * *

The next day, Kakashi surprised them all with something completely new and unexpected. He'd handed them an application form and told them what it was for. "The chunin exams?" The three children asked the question in unison.

Smiling his one-eyed smile, Kakashi simply replied, "Yep. It's the exam you'll need to complete in order to officially increase your rank and become chunin. With everything you've experienced in your various missions, I think you'll be able to survive the test, if not pass."

For a moment the genin were too stunned to say anything, but that didn't last long. The jonin found himself tackled by a blond ball of energy continuously saying "thank you". It was rather fun to try and predict Naruto's reactions, he could be childish and happy-go-lucky one minute then switch to being serious and adult when the need arouse, or just complete at random.

Sakura's reaction was less comical, she didn't even seem happy about the whole ordeal. She looked worried and nervous, probably proving herself to be the sanest of their group. "Sensei, do you really think we're ready to take the chunin exam? I've heard that people die during the test, it can be very dangerous."

Looking at the two students who seemed eager to take part in the exam, and also the one who didn't, Kakashi smiled and replied, "If you don't feel capable of completing the exam, then there's no need to enter. You each need to choose what to do for yourself, it won't affect the others, so don't worry."

Sasuke just nodded his understanding, but Naruto looked at the man suspiciously like he knew their teacher was lying through his teeth. Suddenly, the boy grew a mischievous smile and said, "You know, Kakashi-sensei, this test will be difficult. Perhaps you should teach us some new jutsu to help us survive." Sasuke seemed intrigued by the idea, while Sakura looked slightly reassured.

Under the silent pleading of his three students, Kakashi wilted and pulled out three scrolls from his back pocket. First he handed on to their number-one rookie. "Sasuke, you seem to have a number of destructive fire jutsu, but this is a low level thunder jutsu which is designed to only knockout your opponent. Its perfect for capture and interrogation." The raven haired boy took the scroll. He seemed slightly disappointed but also eager.

When he gave the scroll to Sakura, he said, "Since your test scores said you'd have an aptitude for it, I'm giving you a genjutsu. Its the same one I used on you during your genin exam, it'll show whoever you use it on a vision of their loved one being tortured. You shouldn't have much trouble learning, but try practicing it on someone to be sure." After listening, Sakura looked over Naruto like he was suppose to be her guinea pig.

Kakashi turned to his blond haired mystery. Pannku had told his master about Naruto's sealing technique, as well as his words to Keitaro, the boy seemed far more intelligent then he let on. "That one is an earth technique. It'll create a square of earth to make a defense for yourself. You already seem to have a couple of attacks at your disposal, this one will give you a defense." The boy seemed slightly disappointed, but still ready to learn. After giving them their jutsu to learn, their instructor told them, "Take the rest of the day to prepare yourselves. The exam starts at noon tomorrow, third floor of the old school building. If your late then you'll have to wait till the next exam."

As the man disappeared, his students thought, _He's the last person to tell us not to be late._ Sasuke walked off to practice his new jutsu, but Naruto stayed behind to consol Sakura. She still seemed nervous about the exam so the blond decided to give her a few words of wisdom. "Sakrua, if you really don't think you'll make it through the exam then just say so. Kakashi said it wouldn't have any affect on the rest of us so just do what you feel your able to do."

The girl looked over at her team mate and asked, "Do you not care whether or not we do this together?"

"Of course I do!" Naruto actually looked offended by the woman's statement. "We're a team and we should take this exam as a team, but I don't want to force someone to enter if they don't feel up to the challenge." Smiling at the girl, Naruto said, "Just do what you feel like you can do, Sakura. Its good to push yourself, but not to the point where you think you'll die. Just try learning that genjutsu first and see how you feel then." He patted Sakura on the shoulder then began walking off.

As she watched Naruto walking away, Sakura realized she wasn't feeling as nervous. She wondered if it was from her new genjutsu or just her teammate's words. "… Naruto!" The boy turned back to his friend. "Thanks for the encouragement." With that she turned to walk away, but became distracted by another voice calling out to her teammate.

"Boss!" Sakura turned back to find three academy students accosting her teammate. "Come on, Boss! Didn't you say you'd play ninja with us today?"

Seeing Sakura's confused look, Naruto decided to introduce the kids. "Sakura, these guys are Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi. They're academy students that I play with sometimes. Konohamaru, I'd like to, but I just found out about this exam I'm taking tomorrow. If I pass, then I'll get to move up to chunin level. Can I skip our play date?" Unfortunately, that sparked a huge incident.

The children all got teary eyed at the same time. "You… you mean you don't want to play with us?" Naruto's resolve began weakening from the onslaught of children's tears.

Sakura decided to add in her two bits as well. "Naruto!" She winked at the children while the blond's back was turned to her. When the boy turned to face his teammate, the academy students flashed mischievous smiles at her. "How could make children cry like that?! What kind of a cruel and twisted man are you?"

As the genin tried to talk to his pink-haired friend, the little girl of the group began her loud wailing and she yelled, "Big brother doesn't want to play with us! Big brother hates us! Waaaaah!" The other children began crying too and Sakura began glaring at her friend, even random people on the street started glaring at the blond.

In truth, Naruto knew it was all an act, with his Spirit Sight he could see nobody was actually angry or sad except the random watchers. He could have just kept calm, but they were doing such a good acting job that he played along anyways. Looking back and forth from the children to Sakura, Naruto finally gave in "Fine, I'll play. But only for a few minutes. You'll play too, won't you Sakura?"

"Huh?" The girl hadn't thought she'd get roped into the mess too, but Naruto figured she deserved it after helping the kids.

"Yah, big sis!" Said Konohamaru. "You've gotta play ninja too."

"I've got a better idea then playing ninja." The children looked over at Naruto like he was completely insane for saying something was better then playing ninja. "Lets play house. You guys get to be the children, I'm the papa, and Sakura gets to be my beautiful and dutiful wi-" A blow to the head, courtesy of Sakura, knocked the boy to the ground and cut off what he was saying.

As he was getting up he found Sakura standing over him radiating as much killer intent as possible. "Finish that sentence and you die!" The look in the girl's eye truly sent shivers up Naruto's back. All of the children were cowering together, and even the normal citizens were hurrying away.

While standing up, Naruto decided take back what he said. "Ok, lets not play house. Playing ninja is a hundred times better. What's today's mission guys?" With Sakura calming down, the children started to get back in a playing mood.

Udon began with the mission specs. "We just found out that Konohamaru has turned traitor and leaked village secrets to an enemy."

"It's our job to capture him and bring him back for questioning." Finished Moegi.

Naruto stood up and pointed at the third child. "Traitorous Konohamaru, I hereby place you under arrest."

The boy smirked and shouted, "You'll never take me alive" then bolted down the street. Naruto and his group gave chase, but just as Konoha turned the corner he ran into someone. He stumbled back a step and looked up at looked up to find a guy dressed in black wearing a lot of makeup and held a large pack on his back. Giving a slight bow, the boy apologized and tried to leave but then the teen grabbed the boy and lifted him off the ground.

"You call that an apology, brat? Give me a proper one."

Instead of requesting forgiveness, Konohamaru began struggling and shouted, "Let go of me you makeup wearing cat freak!"

Kankuro brought his fist back and tried to hit the boy, but found himself punched in the gut by Naruto who'd also taken Konohamaru from his grasp. A second ninja, a female carrying a large fan, simply watched everything unfold. Naruto set his friend on the ground while Sakura and the academy students stood behind him. Kankuro got up and shouted, "What do you think you're doing? Don't interfere!"

Naruto just looked over at the boy and said, "Dude, you need to settle down. He only bumped into you and he already apologized for it. You're throwing a temper tantrum over nothing. Are you a baby or a ninja?" _From those headbands they're wearing, they're from Hidden Sand. They must be here for the Chunin Exam as well._

The teen's anger want deterred, "He did more then that! He called me a makeup wearing cat freak!"

"You **are** a makeup wearing cat freak, Kankuro." That voice wasn't from the girl next to him, but from someone behind him. Kankuro and Tenmari both became slightly afraid. The Leaf Nin looked beyond the bundle toting shinobi to find another Sand ninja. This one with red hair and a gourd on his back. Everyone was surprised by the ring's around his eyes indicating he didn't sleep much, but Naruto saw something else with his Spirit Sight. _He has a demon in him, just like me!_

**(TBC)**

* * *

**A/N:** Hello all. Everyone's back to Konoha and ready for the chunin exam. Naruto has met Garra and can see he's a Jinchuriki with his Spirit Sight.

The bit with Hinata and Kazuma in the ramen bar is something taken from Fruits Basket. In the manga there's a character named Ritsu who, like Hinata, has very little confidence in himself. At one point, he states he wishes to one day "overflow with confidence like Ayame" but is told "that's impossible… Aaya's confidence if far beyond that of mortal men". I thought it would be fun to throw that in.

Next time, we'll see more of Garra. He'll be less bloodthirsty and psychopathic from the beginning and I'll there'll be a reason for it. Later.


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto nor any characters or abilities created by Masashi Kishimoto. Original characters, abilities and bloodlines in this story (there will be) are mine. If someone out there thinks an ability or character of mine is cool and wishes to use it, feel free. I only ask that you give me credit.

**Date:** 08/31/08

**Summary:** While running from an angry mob on his birthday, seven-year-old Naruto finds himself in a strange land where a shinobi turned priest offers to train him as a ninja. Naruto eventually discovers there is more to the world then just shinobi when he unlocks his spiritual power. Not a super Naruto fic (I hate those ones) but more of a smart and wise Naruto fic.

**Reviews:** Please review. I enjoy reviews, even if its only one or two words. I do not appreciate flames. If you don't like this story, its concept, or my writing style then don't read it. Don't read it then complain to me about it.

Spiritual Fox  
Chapter 15: The Exam Begins

The arrival of the third sand nin seemed to throw cold water on everything. His two teammates actually seemed afraid of him, Tenmari less then Kankuro, or at least that was what it looked like to Sakura. There was another strange thing too, the shock when Naruto looked at the last nin was at a level Sakura had never seen. It was worse then when the boy had fought against Keitaro and had his chakra negated. The surprise only lasted a few seconds, and the blond was quickly back to his smiling self. Nobody else seemed to notice because they were focusing on the red head who was lecturing the **older **child.

"We're suppose to be representatives from Suna, and you're picking a fight with some academy student who only bumped into you. Are you a shinobi or a thug?" The leaf shinobi found it funny that the younger boy was reprimanding the older one, and they found it hilarious that that Kankuro seemed so terrified of the other boy.

"I'm… I'm a ninja Gaara."

"Then you should act like it." The glare he was giving made the academy students and Sakura think there was a reason why the younger boy was feared. Naruto, on the other hand, could see the demon inside of the boy, he knew what they were truly afraid of. Sarutobi had made a law forbidding anyone from speaking about the nine-tailed fox inside of Naruto, but he was a kind man who wanted to protect Naruto and his future. The blond realized the chances were low that another village had made the same precautions so those other ninja probably knew about what was in Gaara.

The red head sighed, as if disappointed in Kankuro's actions, "We're leaving. We need to get to the dwellings for Suna ninja soon."

The group tried to leave, but Naruto stopped them. "Hey, I'm sorry about my friend running into your teammate and for punching him. I'm Naruto." He held out his hand for the other to shake, but the red head made no move to return the gesture. Gaara was staring into the blond genin's eyes and there was shock written on his normally impassive face. If shock looked strange on Naruto's face, it was doubly so on the red head's. Neither Tenmari nor Kankuro had ever seen such an expression, and Naruto couldn't understand it either. The other child didn't have Spirit Sight, he wasn't giving Naruto that feeling, so he couldn't know about the blond being a jinchuriki. Even if it was a reaction to Naruto's Spirit Sight, that was usually an uncomfortable questioning look, not shock.

"I'm.. I'm Gaara." Kankuro fought the very powerful urge to faint. Gaara, yes **that** Gaara, had willingly talked to someone and had stuttered. This was the same boy who, for the longest time, had never uttered a word beyond a death threat or a chat with his "mother" and now he was stuttering.

Naruto didn't seem to have any clue how profound this exchange was, neither did Sakura or the younger children, and he continued. "You guys are going to be in the Chunin Exam, right? I'll see you there. My team's going to be one of the best!" Tenmari wondered how the Konoha nin could act like one of their most important tests ever, where they could die no less, was nothing more then a game. What kind of ninja are they raising over here?

Sakura seemed heartened by Naruto's words, "If you guys are looking for the foreigners dwelling, then you should check into the tower first. That would be the fastest way to find it." She turned to her team mate and said, "I'll see you at the test tomorrow, Naruto." The blond jinchuriki smiled, knowing what that statement meant. She then spoke to the academy students. "Come on, kids. Us genin have an important test tomorrow, so we need to study and prepare. We'll play with you after its done."

The children seemed resigned, "All right, later Boss!" And with that they ran off to play else where while Sakura went home to prepare and practice her jutsu.

Naruto decided to try talking with Gaara a little longer so he offered to play tour guide, "If you guys want, I can take you to the tower. You could probably get there yourself, but I know a few short cuts."

Before anyone could answer, Kankuro interrupted. He was still a child and held onto his grudges. "We don't need help from some random idiot who has weird scars on his face. They make you look like a fox or something, its just stup-" The Suna genin never finished his sentence because the shorter boy's fist connected with his jaw and cut his words short. Tenmari thought she heard a strange cracking sound and hoped her brother didn't have a concussion.

Naruto grabbed the teen's shirt to stop him from falling over and began yelling. "You're calling me an idiot? You don't go around insulting people you don't know in their own territory, that's just asking to get your ass kicked! And…" The blond finally noticed Kankuro was unconscious, he should have known straight off because of his spirit sight but he'd been angry, and he let the man fall to the ground. Turning to his siblings he asked, "Is this guy ready for the Chunin Exam? If he can't even take a good punch then he shouldn't be here." The boy forgot that his taijutsu was best in his year and that his punches were better then most his age.

Gaara looked as his unconscious sibling and replied, "He was just caught off guard, and taijutsu isn't his thing. At the very least he'll survive. We'll find our way to tower, but thanks for the offer." The red haired genin picked up his brother with ease and finally said, "We're going Tenmari."

The teen woman was just as unnerved about Gaara's behavior as her brother. With a final glance at the blond Konoha nin she thought, _What makes this guy so special? His eyes are weird, but that's all. Gaara's talked with me a little bit, but not like he has with that blond kid. This is getting more and more mysterious._

* * *

Naruto was finally home and meditating. He'd spent the rest of the day trying to get his new jutsu to work, and he'd eventually gotten it, but it would take him a lot longer to experiment with the jutsu and fully master it. Now he just needed to meditate for a few hours then get to bed. At least that was his original plan, but half way through meditating he felt a visitor approaching and he knew sleep would have to wait.

When Gaara finally arrived he found it strange that the blond's window was open, as if simply inviting him in. Caution held the Suna Genin for a few moments, but curiosity overcame it and he went inside. There weren't any traps waiting, instead there were a couple of cups on the table and Naruto was preparing some tea for guests. When the red head entered, the Konoha nin turned around and said, "Good, I thought you were coming. Just let me finish the tea and we'll have something to drink."

Gaara sat down without a word and waited. Within a minute, the tea was done and both of them were sitting together and drinking without a word. After his first cup was finished, Naruto decided to break the ice and ask, "So, what exactly are you curious about me, Gaara? It can't be that you know I'm a Jinchuriki too."

The cup in Gaara's hand fell to the table and spilled the little amount of tea that remained. "You… You have a demon in you too?" The boy with circles around his eye was looking at Naruto like he'd never seen him before. "How exactly did you know about my demon?"

"It's a gift of mine." Gaara was reminded of another time someone had know about his demon and said almost those same words. "That's why I was interested about you, but what exactly did you want to know about me?"

Gaara eventually calmed himself down and replied, "You're eyes, they're exactly the same as his." The boy took a deep breath and said, "About a year ago, I met a man who had eyes just like yours. A man named Yoshi Ichihara."

"Yoshi-sensei?!" Of all the things Gaara could have said, Naruto never expected that.

Gaara was shocked too. "Sensei? You know him?"

"Yeah. He's the one who taught me ninjutsu and everything. He even taught me how to have eyes like this." He pointed to his own eyes for emphasis. "So, you've met him too? Cool. How exactly did you meet him?"

Gaara couldn't help but be reminded of the priest while talking to Naruto. He was doing the exact things Yoshi did, asking him questions about himself and encouraging him to talk. It was much better then the uneasy talks he had with his sister and the frightened looks his brother gave him. "It was about a year ago in Sunagakure that I first met the man."

_/flashback/_

Like most days in Sunagakure, it was hot and dry with nearly everyone indoors waiting for noon to pass and the temperature to go down. Only a few of the Suna residents were outside, and most of those were ninja returning or carrying out missions. One assignment, an assassination, wasn't going so well because their target had never been hurt before.

The group of Suna nin were lying on the ground dead, only Gaara remained standing and looking around at the bodies indifferently. The boy could feel it, the demon in him calling out for more blood, and he'd just found another source.

A young boy had walked up to the blood bath, he looked frightened but he still found it in himself to ask, "Can you help me find my mom?"

Gaara only looked down at the boy in hate and didn't answer. The boy started to move away but the sand followed and tried to capture the child, just as Gaara was about to grab hold of the boy he disappeared in a blur and when he looked farther down the street a man wearing strange clothes was carrying him. The jinchuriki studied the man as he set the boy on the ground, he was dressed in white robes and looked to be thirty years old. He had chestnut brown hair, stood about 12 feet tall and held the medium build of a fighter.

"You shouldn't go wandering around in alleys to find your parents, kid. You never know what kind of perverts could snatch you up and take you away." He pointed off down towards the a main street, "I think your mom's down that way." The ignorant child smiled and ran off while thanking the "two nice misters".

After the boy was out of ear shot, Yoshi frowned and turned to Gaara. "I don't know who raised you, but there are things you should and shouldn't do. I don't really care if you kill a bunch of assassins who attack you, but you don't kill a child who's only asking for your help."

Gaara was usually a silent creature, but something about the man made him talk. "He deserves to die. He pissed me off."

The priest studied the boy for a moment then asked, "I saw the whole thing, I know he did nothing but talk to you. What's making you so angry?"

"Shut up and die." Sand tried to catch the priest, but it missed Yoshi as he dodged.

The man was smiling as the sand tried to grab him, "Come on, just tell me what's making you so angry. What could it hurt?"

"Its none of your damn business!" The jinchuriki yelled. With most people Gaara wouldn't even take the time to answer, but there was something about the man in front of him which made him react.

"Maybe not, but I'm curious." Gaara only renewed his attempts to catch the man, then Yoshi decided to try something else. "Tell you what, I'll let you catch me if answer truthfully."

Gaara couldn't take it any longer. "You want the truth? Fine, if you wana die that badly, its **everything**! Everything pisses me off you annoying prick, you happy now? EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING PISSES ME OFF!" Yoshi stopped and let the sand capture him, but Gaara didn't move to kill him. It was like he'd opened the flood gates of words, he couldn't stop himself from talking. "All of them. They treat everyone like they're filthy garbage, but then they act like they're spotless and clean. They're the ones who are filthy! I didn't ask to be born or have **that** done to me, but then they treat me like a monster and try to kill me when I'm not perfect! I'm not the one who should die, they're the ones who should die! Not me, you! **You** should die, **you** fall apart, **you **disappear!" Gaara was panting. He rarely even talked, so shouting was a new experience.

"Is that how you really feel? I think you **want** them to care." Gaara's eyes widened in shock and he looked at the man in front of him, half trapped in his sand and at his mercy. His eyes were looking right at him, Garra could feel those eyes piercing into his very soul. He couldn't help but think that the man could see everything about him, including his demon. "Killing everyone would mean such a lonely life, I think you want them care about you. You want them to look at you, don't you? All those people. You want them to need you. You want them to listen to you, to understand you. You want them to accept you. I think the truth is that you want them all to love you."

Gaara stood there in shock, but he soon said, "What the hell makes you think you know everything? Have you ever been treated like a monster then thrown away like garbage?" The boy was prepared to kill with his sand at a moment's notice, but he wanted to hear the man's answer.

"No, I can't say I've ever felt that kind of pain. However, there was a time in my life where I lived a bleak and lonely life. Everyone I'd ever know had died before me, my wife, my children, all of them. I felt like the world had turned its back on me. I thought everything and everyone around me was nothing but trash, but through it all I just felt so alone. I wanted to be with others so desperately, but I couldn't let myself get hurt again, so I just dismissed everyone around me."

Gaara had been staring at the priest captured in his sand, and Yoshi was staring back, but the boy finally realized something important. _This man is looking at me, and not with fear or hate, but at **me**. He's talking to me, and trying to understand me. He's listening to me and caring about what I say._ Gaara though about killing the man, he seriously considered it, but something held his hand. He let the sand fall away from the man and began staggering away from the bloody alley, unsure of what was going on. Just as the red head was at the end of the alley, Yoshi called out again. "Hey kid, thanks for letting me live." The man was smiling as if he'd never almost died. "Can you tell me your name, kid?"

"My name?" Gaara really didn't understand. Nobody had ever taken an interest in him before, nobody had ever asked him his name.

"Yep, your name. It would be fun to keep calling you Kid or Little Tanuki, but I'd like to know your name as well. You can call me Yoshi, Yoshi Ichihara." The man was smiling at him, and it caused the boy to blush slightly.

"Gaara. My name is Gaara." There seemed to be some need within himself to talk to this man. He didn't know what it was exactly, but in truth he only found it uncomfortable and not unpleasant.

"Gaara, interesting name. I'll be in Suna for a while, so I guess I'll see you later." The man gave a short wave and began walking down the alley, soon he had turned the corner and was out of sight. The boy didn't make a move to stop him. Strangely, he didn't for one moment think that would be their last meeting.

_/End Flashback/_

"After that, we began to meet a lot. Sometimes it was only for a few minutes and we didn't talk for long, but it was nice. At first it was just unusual and strange, but after a while that warm feeling became more familiar." The red head was smiling while he talked, as was Naruto. "After I got used to it, I started actively searching for him. I began talking more and more and he'd listen to it all, everything I could think to complain or talk about and he never once got fed up or yelled at me. He'd stay by my side and wouldn't mind being with me. The way he accept me, I began to think, _'Is this what a real parent is like?'_."

Naruto understood that feeling all too well. "It was the same for me. When I first met him, I didn't have any family at all, so I never knew what it was like to have a parent. Even though he was training me, he still cared about me listened to me. I think I did the same thing and began seeing him in a parental light."

"My mom died giving birth to me, and my real dad is the Kazekage. He didn't have time to treat me like a son, even if he'd wanted to. I had an uncle who was kind to me, but that was all just an act. I killed him after he attacked me, and after that I became a very dark person who hated everything and everyone around me. When Yoshi accepted me, even knowing that I was someone who'd kill a child, I was so happy I didn't even know what I was feeling.

"After a couple of months, my father confronted Yoshi personally and asked him why he was spending time with me and what he was doing in the village at all. He told him I was a jinchuriki and why he was spending time with an unstable demon. I'd never told him that's what I was, I was afraid he'd find out and leave, but I'll never forget his answer. 'I knew he had a demon in him from the very beginning. I could see that clearly, but I also saw something else, something you've probably never seen before. I saw a human, a young boy in so much pain I was surprised he could walk around.'"

Gaara had his eyes closed and was drinking in his memory, but Naruto knew he had to call it a night. He needed rest before the exam, so he finally said, "We need to talk some more later, but right now I need some sleep for the exam. Hope you do well Gaara." He offered his hand out to the other boy which was shook in exchange, but Naruto noticed something else. Gaara looked like he wanted to say something more, ever since the mention of the exam, but he held his tongue. As he left, Naruto couldn't help but think something big was going to happen.

* * *

Naruto sat in front of a desk, staring hatefully at the paper in front of him. _When Kakashi sensei said this was an exam, I didn't think there'd actually be a written section to it. I thought we were done with written exams, I was **happy** that we were done with written exams._ Naruto repressed the urge to look around and see what the other students were doing or else the teachers would think he was cheating.

The day had started out really good. Kazuma may not have been taking part in the exam, but Haruko and his team were in attendance. There was one Konoha group which was only a year ahead of them called team Gai, one of them called Rock Lee had challenged Sasuke to a fight and he probably would have beaten Sasuke to a pulp if his teacher hadn't shown up. The real spectacle had been when Haruko had met Gai and Lee, they all seemed to form an instant bond of loud and annoying behavior. Two other teams from their year were attending, it was great seeing all his friends again but they were also his competition so he couldn't be too friendly. Gaara had nodded to him when they saw each other, but Kankuro had glared at him hatefully and Tenmari looked on with curiosity. They'd met another Konoha nin named Kabuto, but while he'd been smiling on the outside his Aura told Naruto that he shouldn't be trusted.

Now they were busy with the test, a paper test that Naruto needed to pass in order to have any hope of becoming a chunin. There was only one problem, _I can't answer any of the questions! How the hell can we do this, these questions are on a completely different level from anything we've had to deal with before. I have to keep at least a few of my points or else my whole group will fail, but the only way I can do that is if I cheat._

Naruto knew that was the only chance he had, to cheat so well that he didn't get caught. He could do it too, the time he'd spent held up in his home hadn't been wasted by any means of the word. He may not have been practicing his ninjutsu, but he had perfected another technique for just such an occasion. He'd been debating whether or not to use it though, but he needed to do something and he wasn't confident in his info gathering skills to use them in a place like this. _I guess I'll just have to use that._ With a smirk Naruto laid his head on the table.

Sakura glance over at Naruto to see how he was doing, she was confident that Sasuke would be able to answer some of questions, but Naruto had always been the weakest of their group when it came to paper tests. When she caught sight of Naruto, her blood boiled because he had his head down and his eyes were closed. _Is that idiot sleeping?! Did he spend the entire night training or something? If we fail because of him I'm going to beat him senseless._

Sasuke was having similar thoughts of the blond. His estimation of Naruto had been steadily rising, but when he saw his teammate sleeping it shot down at least as low as it had been. In fact, everyone had noticed the sleeping boy who'd been boasting earlier but not even the examiners could tell what he was doing. Above everyone's heads, the Astral Projection of Naruto chuckled.

He'd been working for weeks on getting through the first state of Astral Projection, when he'd read about it back with Yoshi, he'd thought it was the ultimate form of spying. Ninja's couldn't see spirits so they'd never know what was going on unless he intentionally make himself visible. The main problem was that it left his body vulnerable to attack, but nobody was going to attack him now. The boy simply floated around until he finally found someone with good answers, then he memorized them and returned to his body.

With his most convincing 'wake-up act', Naruto sat up and began writing down answers. The boy could only hope his sensei would forgive him for using a spirit technique to cheat on a test, but he didn't want his entire group to fail because of him. Now all he had to do was wait for that damn final question.

**(TBC)**

**A/N:** Sorry for the late update. A vicious combination of work, family, manga reading and video games distracted me for a few days. Hopefully you'll still like this chapter despite it being shorter then normal.

The scenes with Gaara were heavily influenced by various Fruits Basket ideas. The flashback was based on when Kyoko first met Katsuya, and when the part where he talks with Naruto was influenced by Yuki's confession to Kakeru that he thinks of Tohru in a motherly fashion.

Next time we'll get through the second stage of the chunin exam, and we might get to the third stage prelims of the test too.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto nor any characters or abilities created by Masashi Kishimoto. Original characters, abilities and bloodlines in this story (there will be) are mine. If someone out there thinks an ability or character of mine is cool and wishes to use it, feel free. I only ask that you give me credit.

**Date:** 09/11/08

**Summary:** While running from an angry mob on his birthday, seven-year-old Naruto finds himself in a strange land where a shinobi turned priest offers to train him as a ninja. Naruto eventually discovers there is more to the world then just shinobi when he unlocks his spiritual power. Not a super Naruto fic (I hate those ones) but more of a smart and wise Naruto fic.

**Reviews:** Please review. I enjoy reviews, even if its only one or two words. I do not appreciate flames. If you don't like this story, its concept, or my writing style then don't read it. Don't read it then complain to me about it.

Spiritual Fox  
Chapter 16: Snake in the Forest

The Forest of Death, a place of danger and trails. The site for the second round of the chunin exam, and Naruto could only think of one thing, This place looks cool. I'll have to camp here later and have some fun. The first exam had been nerve racking, That whole tenth question thing had nearly given everyone a heart attack, but Naruto's encouraging words helped a lot of people pass. When Ibiki started talking about the true nature of the test, Naruto wanted to smash his head in with a rock for not realizing the truth quicker. He'd thought the whole "perfect point" system was strange, but he still hadn't realized the truth until someone told him.

In any event, his team had made it into the second part of the exam where real danger awaited. They could run into a group who was far more powerful and simply wanted to kill, or just encounter a natural danger they couldn't handle. None of Team Seven knew what lied ahead, death could easily await one or all of them, but they wanted to try and become chunin so they had to deal with it. Their resolve had been tested though, mainly by the second examiner who like to mess with everyone's mind as much as Ibiki had. The difference was that Ibiki liked subtle manipulation while Anko was a fan of the straight forward scare-the-shit-out-of-you tactics.

What had truly shaken Naruto's resolve hadn't been his examiner, it had been that damn Grass Nin. His aura was so dark and evil that simple being around him made Naruto nauseous, not even Yukio had made Naruto react like that and his Spirit Sight had been brand new. It wasn't the same person as before and whoever this new nin was, he wasn't a genin level ninja. The only thing Naruto could think to do was tell the Anko and hope she could do something.

Of course, when it came to the exam things were a different story. Anko had told them all about the second exam and was now passing out the scrolls. Naruto was taking the time to get a heads up on the competition and find out who had what scroll. It would be impossible with normal spy techniques, but with Astral Projection he could know who had what scroll and no one would be the wiser. He had his teammates watch over him while he 'rested' so his body was safe, and he could only cheat until they got called to get their scrolls. Naruto figured that they were suppose to cheat on the last test, so it was probably ok to cheat on this one too.

Naruto's group was called and they went to be assigned a scroll and a gate number, both Sasuke and Sakura seemed angry at their blond teammate. They didn't seem to like all the sleeping he'd been doing and they wanted his promise he'd stay awake during most of the exam. It was an easy promise to make, Naruto didn't have any intention of 'sleeping' when his life would be in danger.

Sasuke picked up their Heaven Scroll and they knew what their gate number was, but while the others left, Naruto hung back and just stared at Anko. She, in turn, stared back even though it was uncomfortable to do so (Naruto's eyes were working their magic). The Jonin eventually got fed up with the staring contest and finally asked, "What do you want, brat. Hurry up and get to your gate, we can't have you holding up everyone."

"That group of Kusa nin are impostors." Anko looked shocked by the boy's words, but Naruto couldn't think of any other way to pass along the information then to just tell it straight. "They aren't a group of genin. I humbly request you look into them."

"What make you so sure of yourself?" Anko did get a bad vibe from the group, but that was nothing to be concerned about. She got bad feelings from at least half the participating groups so why should the grass ninja be any different.

"I just know." It wasn't like Naruto could say, 'I can see their souls and know they're not the same'. If he said something like that he'd get locked up and his only visitors would be psychiatrists.

Anko smirked and waved the boy away saying, "I'll look into it, brat. Now move along, your holding up the line." Both boy and woman knew she had no intention of doing anything other then giving the team a good look over. All Naruto could do was bow and pray they wouldn't run into that team while in the forest.

* * *

_Maybe I shouldn't be praying. Every time I try, we all usually get screwed over._ Despite Naruto's wishes, they did have to face the Grass nin, or whoever it was, in the forest. When said Ninja was targeting one of your team members then it was almost assured that you'd run into him. The exam had started out good, they'd run into one enemy ninja but they handled him with ease. Then the black Aura bastard showed up and began beating them with both arms tied behind his back. Before, simply being around the snaky freak had made Naruto nauseous but now that the bastard was fighting and exerting his will he was making the blond sick to his stomach. _How the hell can I fight this snake bastard, he really summons snakes and if I can't get close without passing out then I can't fight._

Naruto had been trying to fight, but this guy was too powerful for them to handle. Sakura was paralyzed just by the man's killer intent alone, true Sasuke and Naruto had been that way too but they'd been able to shake off the feeling after a few seconds. Naruto and Sasuke had been using everything they had but they couldn't even touch the bum. Neither boy could match the man in taijutsu, he destroyed Naruto's clones as soon as he made them, and every distance technique they tried was either blocked or dodged. _Hell, I can barely follow his sign weaving, let alone beat him._ Their only chance was to run away, but they'd never be able to outrun their opponent.

Naruto knew that he could always go to the mountain. _It's the one place, perhaps in the entire world, that this snake can't follow. I'd take us there if this guy wanted to kill us, but that doesn't seem like his intension. If he wanted to kill us, he would have done so by now. Neither his actions nor his aura say that we'll die._

Naruto did want to know just what the bastard's game was. His group was together, Sakura had recovered enough to move and Sasuke was next to them, panting hard, so they could flee in a moments notice. "Who are you, and what do you want?" In truth, it was the question weighing on the entire team's mind, Naruto was only brave enough, or dumb enough, to ask.

With a smirk, the man replied, "Kukuku, after all of that you still have the strength and will to demand answers? Intriguing. I'll answer one of your questions, boy. My name Orochimaru, and as for what I want…" He paused to stare at Sasuke with hunger in his eyes. "That much you'll find out eventually."

In that instance, Naruto's blood ran cold. He knew, he didn't know how he knew, but he _knew_ that whatever that bastard had planned for Sasuke was something far worse then death. There was no longer any hesitation in Naruto, he turned around, grabbed both his teammates arms and made ran into the mountain fog as fast as possible.

* * *

_That kid was right._ The Konoha ninja had just found the bodies of a group of the Grass ninja. It wasn't uncommon for teams to knock off rivals in the ninja world, but the ninja had been stripped of her face. Anyone could realize it wasn't the work of a group of rival genin, it had been committed by a high level ninja who wanted to enter the Chunin Exam for a short while. Anko recognized it as one of Orochimaru's jutsu, even though the snake bastard had been reported dead a while ago there was no mistake about this jutsu.

There was one other thing weighing on the examiner's mind, Naruto's parting words, "_That group of Kusa nin are impostors."__How did that kid know? Even I didn't know the team was different, so how did that genin figure it out?_ It was an important question, but it was one that would have to wait. She looked at two of her subordinates and said, "Tell the Hokage that Orochimaru is still alive and has entered the Chunin Exam. I'm going to find that traitor and try to kill him." Anko knew that her chances of killing Orochimaru was slim, but after everything that evil snake had done she couldn't just let him walk away.

* * *

Said snake had torn off his copied face and looked around with curiosity, finding his current predicament both intriguing and annoying. The Kyuubi brat had used some teleportation jutsu that the man couldn't trace or follow, a mere genin had escaped from his grasp without his consent. _He simply grabbed his team and disappeared without warning or a trace. I still wanted to test Sasuke more and give him my treat if need be, but now it appears I won't have time._ Orochimaru felt someone approach, and it wasn't a genin. He gave his sadistic smile and thought, _I haven't had a reunion like this for a long time. I hope Anko has improved._

* * *

Neither Sasuke nor Sakura knew what was happening. First they'd been fighting that insanely powerful grass ninja then Naruto was dragging them through some dense fog. Both genin simply assumed the fog was something Naruto had conjured in order to buy them time and neither of them thought for a moment that it would work against **that** ninja.

Sakura got fed up and finally shouted, "Naruto! How long are you going to drag us through this stuff?"

The other boy's answer was short and simple. "Till we reach the other side."

"What are you talking about you idiot? Once we get out of this fog that freak will just find us…" But Sasuke's words were cut off as they finally left the fog and found themselves someplace different. It as a mountain covered in a thick forest, surrounded by a dome of fog. The two stared around gaping and asked, "Where the hell are we."

Unfortunately, the only one who had answers wasn't in any position to talk. Naruto had collapsed on the ground and thrown up. Naruto proved to be the type who let his nerves and feelings come out after he was in a safe place, a good policy for a ninja. It would be trouble to brake down in a dangerous situation so Yoshi had tried teaching the boy to stay calm and feel later.

Naruto shook as he asked, "Who the hell was that guy? There's no way he's a genin, so what was he doing there?"

With compassion in her eyes, Sakura answered, "That's what I want to know, Naruto. Whoever that was, he's way too dangerous for us to handle, but right now the problem is in finding out where we are and how we got here."

"Oh, there's no need to worry. We're safe here." Seeing their questioning glances, Naruto realized he still hadn't told them the truth. The boy was recovering his emotions quick, not wanting to be a complete burden on the others. _I'll need to be in control of myself when I tell them the truth. They might try to kill me._ "I brought us here so that Orochimaru guy couldn't follow. It was the only thing I could think of to get away from the bastard. If I hadn't, we would've been left up to his mercy and I don't want to think about what could have happened to us then."

Sasuke looked at the scenery and finally asked, "Where exactly are we? And how did you know about it?"

"When I was seven, I found myself running through fog and ended up in this place. After that I trained to be a ninja here for four years. As for where we are, I'm not too sure of the details, but it's something like another realm or universe. It's not technically part of our world so there's no way anyone can find us."

Sasuke looked at Naruto skeptically, but Sakura looked confused and asked, "Didn't Iruka sensei say you'd been home schooled with the Hokage's approval?"

"That was a lie the Hokage made up. He still wanted me to be a part of Konoha, so he simply said he knew where I was and who was training me. From what Yoshi sensei said, old man Hokage never approved of my training outside the village." Naruto was feeling calmer and calmer, he looked around and smiled as he remembered his experiences there.

Sasuke tried to find something special about the mountain, but all he could find was a trail leading into the woods, no great buildings or anything. "Someone lives here?"

"Yep. If you follow that trail you'll eventually find a small building, perfect for one or two people to live if they want." The blond was happy to explain his old home.

"So…" Sakura seemed to be thinking about the test again. "What's our next move? Naruto brought us to this place so we could escape that impostor nin and regroup. We still need to find an Earth scroll and finish the exam. I guess we can rest here for a while, then go back to the forest later."

"Umm, about the whole return thing," He really didn't want to tell them. They'd kill him.

Unfortunately, they both noticed the boy's nervousness and became suspicious. The young woman finally said, "Naruto, we can leave this place, can't we?"

_Just say it Naruto. Even if they try to kill you know the area better then they do._ "All you have to do is walk through the fog to go back, the problem is where you'll end up."

Both the blond's teammates looked confused by his words, then the light of understanding flared in their eyes followed by a glare. Sasuke finally said, "Naruto, if I believe this stupid mountain isn't just part of my imagination are you saying that we don't get to choose where we end up when we return to our world?" The Uchiha took the blond's silence as a yes, so he continued with his line or reasoning. "Then that would mean, at best, we'd return to the Forest of Death, at worst we'll end up so far from Konoha that it'll take months to return and be declared missing nin in the mean time, and at absolute worst we'll be stranded somewhere and die!" Sasuke had developed a vain on his forehead which was throbbing like mad. Sakura looked just as angry.

Somehow Naruto kept a straight face and replied, "In a nutshell, yes."

The simple answer was too much, both Sasuke and Sakura lost their fragile hold on their tempers and lunged at the blond while shouting, "I'll kill you!" Fortunately, Naruto had been expecting the reaction so he was able to dodge their attacks. They didn't just lunge, after their initial attack they followed up with kunai and shuriken throwing, along with taijutsu.

"You guys need to calm down." _I'm fairly sure they're listening to me. _"Can't you wait till after we leave to kill me? You said it yourself, we could end up back in the Forest of Death, we don't know we're doomed till after we exit the mountain and find out where we are."

"Why the hell did you bring us here in the first place?!" Sakura was the one shouting this time. "It wasn't like that guy was going to kill us, he could have done that easily. Why the hell would you risk our futures like that?" Sakura was panting from exertion and Sasuke only glared at the blond while waiting for his answer.

"I know that guy wasn't going to kill us, but I'm also sure that he was planning on doing something a lost worse then death. I don't think we'll end up somewhere we'll die, but I know we could end up miles from Konoha or even on the other side of the planet. I know that, but I still think that would be a better fate then what that Orochimaru guy was planning." That was the best explanation he could come up with, and it was all true. He just left out the fact that his main focus had been Sasuke, the spoiled brat would never forgive him for trying to save his life.

The raven haired boy still found a reason to scoff, "Idiot, what the hell are you talking about? There's nothing worse then dea-" As with Kankuro, Naruto cut off the other boy's words before he could finish them with a punch to the jaw. Both Sakura and Sasuke looked like they were going to complain, but then they felt Naruto's anger rise higher then they ever felt before.

The blond pulled his teammate up and looked him directly in the eyes. "Sasuke, you're my team mate and I respect you greatly, but if you ever say something as stupid as 'There's nothing worse then death' I will beat you senseless. There are many fates which people would choose death over, you know that." Naruto's voice seemed to attain a new level of intensity as he added, "You've experienced it before." Sasuke was too stunned by the blond's actions, he couldn't help but remember the his pain and loneliness after his family had died. The shame of knowing it was his brother who perpetrated the act and how he seriously considered ending his life because it seemed like it was too much to bear.

He pushed himself away from Naruto to try and forget what those eyes made him remember but it didn't help much. The thoughts and feelings he'd locked away so carefully had escaped from their cage and it was hard to put them back. Sakura could honestly say she'd never seen either of her teammates like this before, Naruto was angry, not just a silly type of upset but actual anger. Sasuke looked more hurt then she'd ever seen before, she wanted to do something for him but she didn't know what could help. Naruto looked on for a moment before turning away from his teammates. "Lets rest here for a little while and then go back through the fog. If we end up somewhere other then the exam then I'll let you two beat me up."

Sasuke was calming down quickly, but Sakura was the one to ask, "How will we know if we're in the right place? There must be hundreds of large, dangerous forests everywhere." If they got to beat the blond up then they'd need to know for certain they were in the wrong forest. They had to fair about the situation, if Naruto could get them back safely then there was really nothing wrong.

"I'll be the judge of that. You guys have probably noticed something strange about my eyes right?" They both nodded egger for an explanation. "I've gained a new power recently, it lets me sense where people are around me and who they are. Once we leave, I'll check the surrounding area and see if the other teams are there." It was all true, even if it wasn't everything his new sense could do. Both Sasuke and Sakura were surprised by the admission, Naruto had never really talked about his abilities before so it was a rare treat to have the blond speaking.

Both teammates thought the same thing, _Is this his way of apologizing to us? He knows what he did could have ended all of our careers, so is talking about his skills his way of asking forgiveness?_

The raven haired boy gave a moments pause before replying, "That sounds like a useful ability. I guess I'll wait around pass judgment after we leave." One thing Sasuke was sure of was that Naruto hadn't told them everything about his power. He could feel it, there was something the blond was leaving out but he just decided to ignore it. There was one thing he wanted to clarify though, "Naruto, you said you can't decided where we'll end up once we leave this mountain, so doesn't that mean the exit is completely random?"

The shorter boy got into a thinking position before vaguely answering, "Yes and no." The angry and impatient expressions of his teammates prompted the blond to elaborate. "I don't think anyone knows the details, even Yoshi-sensei, but he did tell me that the mountain sends people where they need to be. If you believe that then you'd think it wasn't random, but if you don't believe it then it's just by chance." It didn't seem like Naruto was going to explain any more, so the others just let the subject drop. Both Sakura and Sasuke had a feeling that the blond really didn't know any more on the subject. Instead of talking or asking questions, the three of them were content to wait quietly until they needed to leave the mountain.

* * *

The moment they were back, Naruto reached out with his senses to see where they'd arrived. He was pleasantly surprised to find the various genin teams in the vicinity and ecstatic by the lack of that black aura. It was also a nice treat to have a team close by who, if he was feeling right, had the scroll they needed.

"Well?" Both teammates wanted to know if they could beat up on the blond yet.

A smile graced Naruto's face as he simply replied, "We're back in the forest, right where we should be. And in case you want some proof, you just need to ask the team that's about to attack us."

Both the other team members stiffened as another group jumped out after their cover was blown. It was the Sound team they'd seen before the exam started, the broom head, the fur ball, and the tough looking girl. Naruto hadn't caught their names, but they were skilled. The fur guy had gotten into a fight with Kabuto and hurt him without touching him, the blond was still trying to figure out how it happened.

"It appears we've been found out." Said broom-head, he didn't sound upset, the others were all smug as can be.

Sasuke just sighed, "You guys are morons." The Sound team glared at him hatefully as he continued. "You shouldn't just jump out into the open like that, even if we knew you were close by you could still attack from a distance and keep your skills hidden. Now we know who you are and what to expect. This should be an easy win."

"Hold on Sasuke," Sakura interrupted, she had a good reason too. "We shouldn't be getting into random fights, our task is to collect the scroll and complete the exam. We can't waist time and energy fighting random fools." The opposing team was getting annoyed. The girl, who looked like she was their weakest member, was dismissing them as 'random fools'.

"Don't just write us off that easily little girl!" Shouted Kin.

"Sakura, those guys do have the scroll we need. We just need to fight them so we can get our last scroll." Both of Naruto's teammates looked at him with suspicion, not believing he could know something like that. "I'll explain later, now we just need to beat these guys. This couldn't be more easy if the scroll was handed to us, like taking candy from a baby."

Zaku was able to control himself, but his teammates were too hot blooded. Both Dosu and Kin attacked, the hairball aiming at Sasuke with his sonic punch and the woman attacking Sakura with her Sebon Needles. Both fights spread off to the sides, leaving Naruto to face Zaku. Looking around, Naruto just smiled, "Maybe we over did it? I guess I'll just have to fight you."

The high haired boy only glared at his opponent, he may have been in control but he was still pissed off. "I couldn't look my master in the eyes if my teammates fought and I didn't."

Naruto got into a fighting stance, "Then lets begin."

**(TBC)**

* * *

**A/N:** All right, Naruto's team finds out some of his past and abilities, it also has some fighting in it. Yes, Sasuke won't have the Cursed Mark, its one of those stories. If you don't like it then you'll have to deal with it.

Next time we'll get into the prelims for the exam, or at least we should.


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto nor any characters or abilities created by Masashi Kishimoto. Original characters, abilities and bloodlines in this story (there will be) are mine. If someone out there thinks an ability or character of mine is cool and wishes to use it, feel free. I only ask that you give me credit.

**Date:** 09/23/08

**Summary:** While running from an angry mob on his birthday, seven-year-old Naruto finds himself in a strange land where a shinobi turned priest offers to train him as a ninja. Naruto eventually discovers there is more to the world then just shinobi when he unlocks his spiritual power. Not a super Naruto fic (I hate those ones) but more of a smart and wise Naruto fic.

**Reviews:** Please review. I enjoy reviews, even if its only one or two words. I do not appreciate flames. If you don't like this story, its concept, or my writing style then don't read it. Don't read it then complain to me about it.

Spiritual Fox  
Chapter 17: White Darkness in the Woods

In truth, Naruto's group had only been kidding when they were talking trash about the Sound Ninja. The Konoha nin knew the team may not have been the brightest, but they were still strong opponents and wouldn't go down so easily. However, each team did have the scroll the other needed so they began fighting all out. Naruto didn't bother worrying about his teammates, Sakura was still strong even if she wasn't quite up to the other boy's levels yet. Sasuke became a challenge when he used his new Sharingan, so he could probably beat that hairball Dosu. Naruto had the added bonus of knowing his teammates condition due to his Spirit Sight, and neither of them were hurt or in a panicked state.

Against Zaku, Naruto found he needed to focus slightly. He wasn't fighting all out by any stretch, but it was difficult to keep dodging that guy's hand blasts. It would've been easy to knock the guy out quickly using his Shadow Clones, but there seemed to be something strange about the fighters. They seemed more focused on Sasuke then they did anything else, granted he was the last Uchiha and he did have the scroll, but this seemed to be something else and Naruto wanted answers.

The blond dodged another of Zaku's blast attacks then finally stopped to ask, "What exactly do you guys want with Sasuke? I can tell that it has nothing to do with this test." Rule number one when interrogating idiots, pretend like you already know something, if they answer with something along the lines of 'how did you know that' then you know your right. Be warned, if your guessing wrong then a smart person could answer that way just to lead you down the wrong path.

Zaku proved to be stupid **and** talkative. He looked at Naruto hatefully before saying, "Why should I discuss Lord Orochimaru's orders with you?"

"Orochimaru? That snake guy who attacked us earlier?" He wasn't sure whether he should have insulted the man, this Zaku seemed to worship the bastard so getting him angry could loosen his tongue or make him clam up.

"So you've already met our master? I don't know why he'd waste his time with you fools, he knows he can trust us to kill Sasuke for him."

_Didn't he just say he wasn't going to talk about his orders? And what the hell does he mean 'kill Sasuke'? That snake was interested in him_, the mere thought of that sent shivers up Naruto's spine, _but he didn't want him dead. _

"I don't know what orders you were given, but that Orochimaru bastard doesn't want Sasuke dead. If he did, then he would've done it when he attacked us." Zaku renewed his attack upon hearing his master insulted, this time focusing on taijutsu to try and defeat Naruto. After experiencing his poor performance, Naruto was hit by a flash of insight. "I think I get it now, he doesn't expect you to defeat anyone. You guys are just a test to see how strong Sasuke is."

"Shut up! You don't know what your talking about! Orochimaru would never do something like that." The boy seemed to fully believe what he was saying, and that just confused Naruto. How could anyone think that thing could care about another life besides his own?

The blond decided to voice his question. "What exactly did that snake guy do for you? It must have been something big for you to believe in him this much."

Zaku gained a slightly crazed smile as he reminisced, "He saved me. I was just a street urchin who stole for a living, then Master Orochimaru took me in and made me strong." The boy continued to attack while talking. "He's the greatest thing that ever happened to me! Without him I'd have died a long time ago, I'd still be on the streets doing nothing with my life. Orochimaru gave me light when I was all alone and he'll be a light for the entire world." One of his punches connected, it was a clean shot to the face. Zaku was happy for a moment before Naruto countered with a punch to his gut which sent the taller child flat on his back.

The strike was quick and more powerful then what he'd just used against the blond, in fact Zaku was troubled that his punch didn't seem to affect Naruto at all. His words, however, were a different matter. Instead of proving just how wonderful his master was, they only enraged the jinchuriki. "Orochimaru gave you light? You don't know anything, do you? I've met that bastard and I've seen his soul, he doesn't have an ounce of light in him. He could never show you something he doesn't have, all that bastard has is white darkness."

Getting up while clutching his gut, Zaku looked on at his opponent. This man had insulted his master twice during the fight and was talking nonsense. "What the hell do you mean, 'white darkness'? It doesn't make any sense."

"Its tricky to understand, but it's a disguised darkness, a masked evil. Something which could be mistaken for light, especially for someone like you." Yoshi had talked about it once with Naruto, how some people never cared about anyone but tricked followers into believing otherwise. He called it "The trick of the white darkness", Naruto had never understood how someone could fall for it until that very moment. Meeting Zaku, seeing how devout he was and hearing about his past finally made things clear.

" 'Someone like me'? What the hell do you know about me?" The broom head was getting a bad feeling from his opponent.

"I know a lot about you, because I was exactly like you." Naruto closed his eyes and remembered his early days in Konoha. "Nobody who loves you, constantly alone, no place to go and nothing to do, I used to have the exact same life." Zaku couldn't believe what he was hearing, this kid had described his own life flawlessly. "But I met someone who gave me real warmth, someone who actually cared about me. He wanted me to grow and be an independent human, not a devoted puppet, that's why I can see through Orochimaru's trick now. However, I'm positive that if I'd met him all those years ago that I would have been fooled just like you. For someone who's lived too long in darkness you could easily mistake what he's offering as light and good, that's the trick of the white darkness." Naruto's face became filled with distain. "The very fact that bastard would do something that cruel makes me sick."

"Shut Up! You don't know a damn thing!" In truth, what the blond said had really shaken Zaku. Looking the boy in the eyes and listening to him speak, it was shaking his resolve badly. _Or maybe its just that my beliefs were never that strong to begin with and now I'm seeing it._

The Sound nin renewed his taijutsu attack once again, "I do know, I know that when I was all alone all I wanted was for someone care about me and love me. I found that in someone, but what about you? Can you look me in they eyes and tell me you wanted something different, or that you found it in Orochimaru?" Zaku just kept attacking, he knew he'd never be able to look his opponent in the eyes and say something like that, not when he didn't know the answer himself. Naruto, however, wasn't content with dodging anymore. He began fighting back, and the Sound nin was only mildly surprised to find Naruto's attacks to be faster and more powerful then his own. The blond had been dodging his attacks, it was only natural that one who dodged a strike would be faster and more skilled. Zaku just didn't want to stop and reflect on the other boy's words, he knew that if he did it would send his whole world crashing down around him.

Once Naruto began fighting, the Sound nin didn't last long. Even using his jutsu, he didn't stand a chance, Naruto used his wind and new barrier jutsu to counter or block his blasts, then striking with taijutsu during the intermissions. It finally came to an end when the blond gave Zaku a kick to his gut, painfully knocking him into a tree and leaving him breathless and exhausted. _This guy is just too strong!_

Naruto stood over his opponent and looked down on him. "I'll tell you this, Sasuke's at the same level as me when he's using his Sharingan, so if you were hoping to take him out with no problem then you really are delusional."

Without warning, Zaku shot his hand up and fired a sound blast at close range, hoping to hit Naruto when his guard was down. It proved to be a futile effort, Naruto's Spirit Sight easily let him see someone with ill intent a mile away. Even while his opponent was resting, his aura held signs of scheming, that he had a last ditch effort at killing Naruto waiting in his arsenal. Naruto just didn't know what or when it would happen, but the flare of killer intent had been enough of a sign for the blond, he jumped back and avoided the shot.

**Bang**. The blast collided with the branch of the tree directly above him and caused it to fall, it would crush him if it he didn't move. _But I don't have the strength to move, I put everything I had in that last shot and he dodged it. _With a sad smile he watched as the branch came closer and thought, _I guess this is it. I never found what I was looking for either. _Zaku closed his eyes and waited for death, but at the last second he felt someone pick him up and carry him to safety. As the branch slammed into the ground the Sound boy's eyes snapped open to see who was carrying him and he saw Naruto. He just couldn't understand, "What? Why-"

Setting him down safely, the blond replied, "Try not to do something reckless like that again, I might not be around to save you."

"Why did you save me this time?" He just couldn't understand. "I tried to kill you, I would have tortured your friends. Why did you do it?" In the same situation he would have let Naruto die, he knew it and Naruto knew it too.

"I just couldn't let someone who's been so alone die like that, I really am a sap. And I thought that maybe if you could experience some real good for a change you could get some perspective on life." Just then, two people jumped out carrying an unconscious bundle, Naruto knew they could have been disguises, but with his special sight he knew they were real. He turned and waved at his friends, "Sasuke, Sakura, you guys finished already?"

Sakura looked worse for wear, her cloths had multiple tears in them and she had a few scrapes, but her opponent had multiple bruises and was the one knocked out and tied up. Sasuke looked like he was in better condition, but that could just be because his opponent used that supersonic attack and not a physical weapon like sebon needles. Sakura answered first, "I was finally able to catch her in my genjutsu and knock her out. It wasn't easy, she's good with those damn needles."

"My fire jutsu cut through his sound attacks easily." Stated the Uchiha, "And I found this on him." He held up the scroll they needed. "Now we just need to get to that tower."

Naruto flashed a smile and gave his teammates a thumbs up, "Great, we should probably rest first, another team will try to target us if we approach the tower." The others nodded in agreement and began to leave but Zaku called out to them.

"Hey, what exactly are we suppose to do?" He was looking down at his unconscious teammates, confused and disoriented. None of his team was dead, and Naruto had actively saved his life.

"That's your choice. You should rest up for a while, then decided what to do. You can continue with the exam and get another couple of scrolls, or just give up and wait for the exam to end. So long as it's your choice, it'll be ok."

With that, Naruto and his team left to journey to the tower.

_

* * *

_

This Chunin Exam is becoming more and more trouble.

That was the Hokage's thoughts on the matter. Anko's report was disturbing to say the least, Orochimaru was alive and had infiltrated the Exam for unknown reasons. _Though if I had to guess, he's after the last Uchiha. He's always craved power, he probably wants Sasuke's power for himself._ The snake was still extremely powerful, too. Anko's report said she's fought Orochimaru and had been completely outmatched, "By now, his strength is probably greater then mine."

"Don't say that Lord Hokage!" Said one of the Jonin, "You're the Professor, your skills are legendary."

"True, but I'm also old, my power has waned considerably. My chakra isn't what it used to be, and I've slowed considerably over the years. We should have been looking for another Hokage instead of pulling me out of retirement."

Another Jonin stepped forward, "Sir, should we cancel the Chunin Exam and search for Orochimaru? His extermination should trump anything else right now."

Sarutobi paused for a moment before answering. "No, we were warned not to stop the exam, and I won't let our genin's future be trampled by that snake. Even if it's what Orochimaru wants, I won't let our genin lose their chance to grow." _We have to move forward no mater who threatens us._

Another Jonin entered the room, "Sir, another genin team has finished the exam."

"Three in the first day, huh?" First it was the Sand team, then Team Washi. "Who is it this time?"

"Konoha's Team 7, consisting of Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura." The man bowed before disappearing.

The Hokage was glad, if they finished his early then Orochimaru must not have done anything to Sasuke

* * *

After all that time, they'd been carrying around a couple of summoning scrolls. They'd finally gotten to the tower and opened the scrolls, but they'd been surprised when a chunin had been summoned. Naruto felt like the heaven's had smiled upon him when he recognized who it was. He smiled evilly as the man began his speech, "Congratulations on completing the second half of the Chunin Exam, not a lot of people complete it so fast so you must be strong…" The man finally focused on who he was talking to and finally recognized one of them, "Na- Naruto. Long time no see."

With an evil and angry smile the blond replied, "Yes, it has been Masahiro."

Sasuke and Sakura both looked at their teammate. Eventually the girl asked, "You know this guy Naruto?"

"Yep, we play cards together sometimes. Speaking of cards, where's that 30 you owe me." He continued to glare at the chunin.

Masahiro remembered his debt very well, he'd been doing his best to avoid the brat in hopes of him forgetting the money he owed. "Well about that, this isn't really the time, and I don't have the money on me." That was a lie, he always carried some money on him in case he was stranded somewhere or needed to bribe someone.

Naruto was able to see right through it. "I've been waiting almost two months to get my money from you, and I know your lying about not having the cash."

_Damn it!_ Masa didn't know what to do until the female genin spoke up. "Naruto, I think he's right about this being the wrong time to discuss money. We need to focus on the Chunin Exam first."

"Good point, little girl. Now, as I was saying, you're on the verge of becoming Chunin, but it takes more then just strength or smarts, you need to balance the two or-"

"Or you become a cheap chunin wana be who keeps trying to avoid his debts." Naruto's glare proved to be too much for Masahiro and he finally cracked.

"Enough all ready! Here's your damn money, brat! I hope you choke on your next bowl of ramen!" He threw a bundle of money at Naruto, and the blond easily caught it.

He counted the total and finally smiled. "Pleasure doing business with you Masa. See you again next card game."

Sasuke looked between his smug teammate and the fuming Chunin before asking the older man, "Shouldn't you be talking to us or something?"

"Screw it, I'm not in the mood to give advice or compliments. There's still another 4 days till the end of the exam," He pointed off to the side, "Go through those doors to get to the rest of the tower, someone will assign you rooms and show you where to eat. There are some training facilities too if you feel like it." Glaring at Naruto he added, "I hope you fail you money hungry brat."

Naruto childishly stuck his tongue out, "You shouldn't be betting if you can't win or if you get angry about loosing. Thanks for the directions Masa." With that, the three genin walked off leaving the fuming Masahiro behind.

* * *

A random chunin showed them their rooms and where they could eat. It was your run of the mill cafeteria with a single cook who quickly dished out prepared food for you. The whole team figured that the place didn't get much use because most teams didn't finish the second exam until the last few days. Even if someone did get their scroll within the first day it was hell to try keeping the scrolls from other teams. Team 7 had fought with a group of Kiri nin from water, they'd used genjutsu but with Sakura's control, Sasuke's Sharingan and Naruto's sense they'd defeated the bums.

However, that was then and now was food. It was late and everyone was hungry, when the team entered the dinning area they found the other finishing teams had the same feelings. Sasuke and Sakura were surprised to find an overly friendly yell from Haruko, "Naru poppy, Lady Sakura, Proud and Noble Sasuke, how wonderful to see you. Your team must be powerful to have finished so quickly. Such skill and ability in a team which has only been active for one year is indeed breathtaking, come my fellow team members, let us shower these brave souls with praise!"

Makoto continued eating his food without a word, while Satu had become annoyed with his teammate's actions and began yelling. "Haru, shut up and get over here. We're not going to, 'shower them with praise' so stop asking us to do so. We didn't do it for that sand team and we're not doing it for that team either."

Sakura looked confused, "Sand team?" She'd been forced to focus on Haruko when they first entered, so when she finally took the time to look around she saw the Suna genin team was there too. The group still gave Sakura the chills, especially Gaara.

Unlike his teammates, Sasuke had never met the team before so he didn't really know what to think. A girl with a fan, which usually meant a wind jutsu user, some guy wearing make-up, and a red head who looked like he was trouble. Sasuke knew he didn't have a good track record with red heads, Keitaro had almost killed him and this new guy gave him a bad feeling.

However, Naruto didn't have the same reservations. "Gaara, how's it going? You must be really strong if you made it here in one day."

"Actually, I think the chunin we met said we broke the record by a few hours. I'm glad to see you've completed the exam as well, Naruto." Temari was shocked to find her brother not only respond to the blond but also do it with a smile. It wasn't a huge one, but it was there all right. Kankuro didn't notice his brother's behavior, he was still angry with the blond and wasn't paying his sibling any attention.

Sakura had had enough of being in the presence of not only the Sand family but also Haruko, there was only so much one normal human could take. She grabbed both of her teammates hands and pulled them away, "We need to get something to eat so wrap things up boys."

Sasuke seemed slightly upset about being lumped together with Naruto, but he endured it. Naruto let himself be dragged away while waving at his friends sheepishly. "I guess I'll talk to you guys later. Hope you do well in the exam." Naruto ran off to the cook and started asking about ramen. The man's biggest mistake was saying he had the noodles and the blond could have as much as he wanted.

**(TBC)**

* * *

**A/N**: All right, time for the next chapter. The idea of "White Darkness" is taken from the manga Togari. In it, the soul of a mass murder condemned in hell, Tobi, is given the chance to gain his freedom. He has to collect the sins of living criminals which have taken the form of dark spirits known as Touga. Tobi is desperate to escape hell but is unwilling to repent for his crimes so he accepts. Being from 500 years ago he has to adapt to the modern world without getting himself killed due to his own wild and evil spirit.

During his hunting, Tobi meets a man who can give other dark souls their own Touga, making the souls believe the man cares about them and is giving them power. Tobi sees through this and says, "You don't have light, all you have is white darkness". While facing one of the man's followers Tobi says, "If you spend too much time in darkness you might be fooled into seeing what he's offering with as light, that's the trick of the white darkness." (these are not true quotes, just what I remember) I find it very appropriate for explaining Orochimaru and the loyalty of his followers. I should get some advertising fee or something, but doubt it'll actually happen, _sigh_.

Late update, I know. I'm becoming more and more lazy. Next time we'll get through some of the 3rd exam prelims. I'll have to take some time to plan so I don't forget anyone during the fights. Later all.


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto nor any characters or abilities created by Masashi Kishimoto. Original characters, abilities and bloodlines in this story (there will be) are mine. If someone out there thinks an ability or character of mine is cool and wishes to use it, feel free. I only ask that you give me credit.

**Date:** 10/03/08

**Summary:** While running from an angry mob on his birthday, seven-year-old Naruto finds himself in a strange land where a shinobi turned priest offers to train him as a ninja. Naruto eventually discovers there is more to the world then just shinobi when he unlocks his spiritual power. Not a super Naruto fic (I hate those ones) but more of a smart and wise Naruto fic.

**Reviews:** Please review. I enjoy reviews, even if its only one or two words. I do not appreciate flames. If you don't like this story, its concept, or my writing style then don't read it. Don't read it then complain to me about it.

Spiritual Fox  
Chapter 18: Let the (Prelim) Games Begin

Orochimaru wasn't pleased with Kabuto's report, mainly because there wasn't much to read. One of his best men and his team had been beaten by a group of Konoha genin on their first day. Apparently the first team they met was Team Washi, all of the team was incredibly strong, but Haruko had use a very strange fire jutsu, something Kabuto had never seen before. Because of it, his team was unable to finish the exam, the others being too hurt to continue. The only consolation was that Team Dosu had finished so he could stay to watch the other genin. Zaku had been acting strangely, but the man didn't dwell on it. _He's only trash after all, as long as he does his job then I couldn't care what happens to him._ It was time for the third exam to begin, and with the turnout of genin there was going to be preliminary matches. _I'll look forward to seeing you fight Sasuke._

* * *

Naruto had been in a good mood, the second exam was finally ending and they'd get to move onto the third, all great news except for when they went out to talk to the Hokage and he began feeling nauseous. It wasn't anything he ate, it was that snake bastard again, _He's in the room somewhere, but he's not hiding as a genin again so he must be posing a Jonin this time. This isn't enough to really hurt my concentration, but I'd rather I never have to deal with that freak ever again._

The genin walked into the room/arena and began looking around. _So, he's connect to the sound village. I guess I can't say anything, nobody would believe me anyways. And I guess he can't do anything as long as Old Man Hokage's here._ Naruto only half listened to Sarutobi's speech, he was too busy contemplating the other teams who passed. _Wow, Kiba and Shikamaru's team made it, cool. That Lee guy and his team finished too, and that sound team made it. The other two seemed to be in a fighting mood, but Zaku seems out of it. Hopefully nothing will happen to him._

The Hokage's next words caught Naruto's attention. "If anyone wishes to withdraw from the Chunin Exam at this point, they may do so. Your decisions will no longer affect your teammates so if you do not think you can continue you may forfeit."

Naruto looked around and thought, _There's no way anyone will give up now. After all of the hard work we put in, to give up now would be crazy._ Then someone raised his hand and proved just how wrong he was. "Zaku?!"

There, raising his hand, was Zaku. He had only gotten to the tower the day before but he still seemed able to fight despite looking slightly worse for wear. However, Naruto could see that he was tired. Not physically tired but emotionally, like his will to fight had been shaken. He seemed to be focusing on something other then the fight, and Naruto seemed to think it had to do with Orochimaru. _He's been blindly following that snake guy for so long, I didn't think he'd actually try defying him so soon. It kinda seems like a test, he's watching to see his master's reaction_.

"Zaku, what are you doing?" Kin said impatiently. He'd been unusually quiet since they'd fought Sasuke's group, she wanted to know what was wrong.

"Do you know what our Leader will do to you if quit?" Dosu knew, everyone knew what would happen.

Their teammate just watched Orochimaru, waiting to see something. He would have accepted any reaction, though only a few would have changed his mind. Anger that his student had given up, disappointment for not trying his best, hate for wasting his time, he was hoping to see some sort of reaction. His hopes were in vain because he got what he expected, nothing. There was no reaction, good or bad. With a sad smile, he looked down at the ground and thought, _It's just like Naruto said, he doesn't care about us at all._ "I know, I know now." With that, he walked off and hoped to get a head start. _He doesn't have time to alert someone to kill me, and he's stuck watching the exam. Maybe I can find someplace to hide until I become stronger._

The Hokage watched as the boy walked off, disappointment and fear radiating off him. He left the room and the Hokage continued, "If there is no one else who wishes to forfeit then we will continue with the preliminaries for the stage of the Chunin Exam."

The third examiner walked out in front of the students. He didn't look like much, he kept coughing and acted like he could die at any moment. "I am Hayate Gekko and I will be the examiner for the Third Round Preliminaries. The prelims will be one on one fights with nothing but what you currently have on you. There are an even number of participants so everyone will fight once. You must fight until your opponent is incapacitated, willingly forfeits, or is dead. However, if you kill an opponent who is already unconscious or has given up you will loose your place in the Chunin Exam and will be banned from the next one." Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto all had the same thought, _So we can't kill off an already beaten opponent, that seems fair._ "The fights will be decided by random lottery, the names of the fighters will appear on the screen behind me. The first two names will be chosen now, those who are not fighting, please move to the catwalks above the arena." _For someone who looks half dead, he sure does talk a lot_, thought at least half the genin. The students watched as names rapidly appeared on the screen before coming to a stop on two, **Tenten vs. Satu Mihama**. The other students left while Satu and Tenten stayed behind to face each other, the other teams and their sensei began evaluating the two opponents. Tenten had a tough look about her, and her teammates knew she had scrolls on her for sealing her extra weapons but they didn't know what to make of her opponent. Satu was a year older and had that much more experience, but he had a strange sword which worried the others. He'd already unsheathed it, revealing a weapon the size of katana but was double bladed. Most of the people present had never seen such a weapon.

Tenten openly mocked the blade, "What kind of a sword is that?"

"It's my family's sword, it's made of a rare and powerful metal. I'm well versed in it's use." The older teen paused before saying, "I'll try not to seriously injure you."

"Me too, Mr. weird sword."

She began with throwing a few kunai, figuring that if he couldn't handle something like that, then he had no business facing her more complex throwing skills. He was able to block a few with his sword and caught another two with his free hand. Tossing them to the ground, he asked, "Is that it?"

With a smirk, the girl answered, "Not even close." She took out one of her scrolls and summoned about ten various weapons, all of which she threw at Satu with pinpoint accuracy. The swordsman was impressed, but not enough to be worried. For every weapon Tenten threw, Satu was able to block with his sword and sometimes even knock the projectile back and take out the next one. The markswoman was getting worried, _Ok, that sword may look strange, but he's good enough to wield it skillfully. He's quick and powerful, but lets see him fight against my next attack._

She took out two scrolls and prepared her assault, but then something happened which she never expected. Her opponent quickly make two slashing motions with his sword, causing Tenten to wonder what he was doing until a moment later when she felt half of her scrolls fall away. She looked down to see her summoning scrolls had been cut in half, then heard Satu say, "If all your going to do is throw weapons at me, then I'm going to end this right now."

When she saw the swordsman charge her, Tenten summoned her katana for a close ranged fight, but when he attacked and she found what a horrible mistake it was to block. Her weapon wasn't able to defend against his strike, his sword somehow cut through her own and had slashed her, there wasn't anything she could do to protect herself. She fell to the ground, her body wasn't responding to her but as she looked down she saw her body was unwounded. "What exactly did you do?" It was difficult to talk, but not impossible

Sheathing his sword, Satu replied, "My sword is very special, it only cuts what I want it to cut. If I want it to slice through metal but simply stun someone, then that's what it'll do. If I want it to cut through air itself, then that's what happens." He turned to leave while adding, "You're a strong Kunoichi, I hope to fight you again someday."

"The winner of the first match is Satu Mihama." Announced Gekko, the crowd was in aw, the most surprised being Team Gai. Gai himself turned to Washi and finally asked, "How exactly did he attack her from so far away? Is it a Wind jutsu?"

Shaking his head, the other man replied, "No, its his sword." Satu was walking back to the spectators. "It's made from a special metal which can absorb it's owners chakra and produce astounding effects. As far as I know, he can use his chakra to increase the swords sharpness or use a distance attack."

The swordsman had made it back to his team and was being assaulted by Haruko who was loudly giving him praise for his victory. Gai the other jonin looked on and thought, _An interesting opponent with an impressive weapon._

The examiner finally made his announcement, "We will now begin choosing the next round of fighters."

Everyone watched as names flew by the screen and finally landed on, **Sasuke Uchiha vs. Choji Akamichi**. Sasuke actually seemed disappointed by his opponent while Choji looked worried. He was going up against their Rookie of the Year, the only one who'd ever beaten him had been Naruto and the plump boy knew he didn't stand a chance against either of them. However, with Ino cheering him on and Shikamaru giving him quiet encouragement, he decided to try his best. _I've grown stronger too, I've got to try to win or else I'll never hear the end of it._

They were both down on the field when Sasuke asked a very insulting question. "If you want to just quit, that's fine. You've never been able to beat me so there's no shame in it."

The examiner just looked back and forth between the two, Choji looked like he was debating the option, until he got a look at Sasuke's smirking face, then there was nothing but determination in his eyes. "I really don't know if I can win, but I'm definitely not going to give up. Let's start."

"The second round of the prelims will now begin."

Choji began by jumping back and throwing multiple shuriken at Sasuke, causing the Uchiha to reevaluate his old classmate. He was faster and more powerful then before, _I guess he'd have to be if he got through the second exam. It looks like we've all gotten more powerful. However…_ Sasuke used a kunai to deflect the attack then immediately followed with a shuriken barrage of his own. He quickly followed after his projectiles, not content or expecting them to do much good. _I've grown even stronger._

Seeing the barrage, Choji jumped to the side to avoid the attack, but was kicked in the stomach by Sasuke sending him flying across the room until he landed. The larger boy was clutching his stomach in pain as Sasuke said, "You've improved a little, but I've grown even more. You can end this humiliation if you want."

In the stands, nobody had much hope for the Akamichi, going up against Sasuke was a difficult task, and the boy hadn't even used his Sharingan yet. Even Shikamaru seemed worried, but then smirked as Choji sent a glare at the Uchiha got up. "Even if I don't win, I'm not going to go down without a fight." With a few handsigns, the boy's body grew into a ball with his clan's Multi-Size Jutsu.

He began rolling forward and picked up speed, Sasuke was able to dodge the strike but the boy quickly turned around and charged again at even greater speed. After a few more repetitions of the rolling and dodging, Sasuke decided to end the fight with his favorite technique, when he dodged Choji again he made his signs and used the Grand Fireball technique. Instead of trying to avoid the ball of flames, Sasuke (and the spectators) were surprised when the Akamichi rolled even faster and charged right into the fireball. The raven haired boy smirked, thinking that he'd won but it only lasted a second, Choji barreled right through the fire seemingly unharmed. Sasuke was so shocked that he couldn't dodge again, he felt the full power of the Meat Tank as it slammed into him, knocking him down and back a little.

The spectators watched as Choji capitalized on Sasuke's stunned state and jumped into the air while stopping his rotation. He was going for a body slam using his larger size and weight for extra damage. The raven haired boy's eyes opened with his Sharingan activated, seeing the incoming body slam, the boy quickly moved over to the side while making a few hand signs. Everyone saw the Uchiha dodge Choji's attack, and they all watched amazed as the raven placed his hand on the larger red head dealing him a large dose of electricity and effectively knocking him out. Sasuke panted slightly, it hadn't been a near defeat by any means, but it hadn't been easy. He never expected the Akamichi to actually spin through his fireball, he hadn't thought it possible. Finally, the examiner said, "The match has been decided, the winner is Sasuke Uchiha." Team 7 cheered for their teammate, while Ino felt conflicted. She wanted to be happy for Sasuke, but he had just beaten her teammate, it was confusing to say the least.

Orochimaru wasn't very impressed. He was hoping to see more of Sasuke's skills so he could make his decision, but that fight hadn't been revealing at all. _I guess I'll just have to see his skills at the Chunin Exam._

After a quick examination, Sasuke was given a clean bill of health (just some bruises but nothing life threatening) and released back up to the observation catwalk. Choji was given a similar clearing, the lightning jutsu had been enough to knock out the boy, but not nearly enough to be critical. After everything was squared away, the examiner finally announced, "We will now begin the third round." Once again, names flashed through the display before stopping, **Temari vs. Haruko Ryuuza**. The sand girl smirked and floated down to the arena while Haruko jumped down as well, his smile never leaving his face.

Raising her fan up, the girl pointed at the Ryuuza boy and said, "I'll only give you once chance to give up, after that I'm going to pound you into the ground."

Haru continued to smile, but he had a serious look about him which nobody outside of his team had ever seen before. He glanced at his opponents weapon before saying, "I'm guessing that you use wind attacks, right?" The black haired boy took his opponent's silence as a yes. "In that case, I'll do something special for you. You get one free shot, I won't block or dodge." Everyone but his team simply thought the man had gone insane.

Temari only smirked, "You'll regret that." Her opponent didn't look very strong to begin with, his long hair and feminine looks made him look like a weak sissy. She opened her fan and used a Wind Scythe, he'd already guessed she used wind attacks, so it was time to prove him right. _This will finish him, maybe even kill him. There's no way anyone could survive this, even if it isn't full power._ She watched as her attack hit the man head on and sent him flying into the side of the room.

The spectators were shocked that the boy had kept his word, despite knowing that the girl used a wind attack. There only people who seemed calm were the Ryuuza's teammates, and their attitude irritated Naruto. "Shouldn't you guys be worried or something? You're friend could be dead!" _Granted, I know he's not dead or in a critical condition, but they don't have Spirit Sight so there's no way they could know._

Makoto kept his silence so Satu decided to answer. "Nah, that won't kill him. It's not nearly powerful enough."

Sakura was only confused. "What are you talking about? Unless he can turn his skin into armor, then those wind blades will cut him to ribbons…" It wasn't just Sakura who lost her train of thought, everyone watched as Haruko got up from the attack and dusted himself off. His cloths were torn up and his skin was scratched, but the damage should have been much worse then what they were seeing.

Temari couldn't believe her eyes. "Impossible."

"I only gave you one free shot, and you wasted it with a wind attack, now I'm fighting back." It was a new, cool side of Haruko that Naruto had never seen. He looked serious, but more excited for a good fight then anything else.

The sand woman was angered by the Ryuuza's words. "You'll still loose." She sent another Wind Scythe at her opponent, more powerful then before, but this time he was fighting back. His hands flew through hand signs and he released a fire attack from his mouth. It wasn't the Uchiha's Grand Fireball, but it's power was at the same level.

On the catwalks, Satu said, "It's the Ryuuza's Flame Tongue, Haruko has the Fire Chakra and has become a master of fire jutsu. Because of that, he has the advantage against someone who uses wind attacks."

Haru's fire attack cut through Temari's winds and assaulted her, she was able to block with her fan and jump back but she realized she was in a tough spot. _My wind shield won't protect me against a fire attack like that and neither can my attacks. Even if they did get through, they wouldn't hurt him nearly enough._ The raven haired boy had rushed forward and began a taijutsu assault, proving that fire jutsu weren't his only strength. It took everything Temari had to dodge his attacks and block with her fan, she didn't dare let even one attack hit her directly.

When the girl began panting, Haru jumped back a little ways while making more hand signs. Temari needed to rest for a moment, so she only stood there with her fan held defensively. The Ryuuza proved to be very powerful, even just blocking and dodging had taken a lot out of the young woman. She watched as a stream of fire came out of his mouth and hit the ground before her, but she could never anticipate what happened next. The fire snaked around her and shot up into a pillar.

"TEMARI!" Both Gaara and Kankuro shouted. She was only human, nobody could handle being trapped in a pillar of heat and flames. If she didn't burn alive then the heated air could destroy her lungs. Luckily, Haru wasn't evil or cruel, he cancelled his jutsu after a few seconds leaving the girl with only a few burns and a dazed state of mind. She fell to the ground coughing, unable to continue with the fight.

"What- what was that?" She was able to cough out.

Smirking, Haruko answered, "The Art of the Fire Pillar. It's a powerful surprise attack and difficult to break out of. I actually could have put enough force into it to incinerate you, but I decided against it. Killing cute girls when I don't have to is against my nature." With that, Temari fainted leaving Haru the only one standing.

"This match is over, Haruko is the winner." Hayate declared. Medics rushed out to examine the sand girl, but they soon put her condition in the green. She had some second degree burns and inhaled a small amount of heated air, but would make a full recovery with proper care. If treated correctly, the girl wouldn't even have any scars, but this information didn't do anything to sooth her brothers' anger. They were both glaring at the black haired Ryuuza for daring to harm their older sister.

He in turn completely ignored them, "Dear, perhaps I shouldn't have let that attack hit me, my clothes are in complete tatters." His face brightened. "Perhaps this could be a new look for me, torn and beaten. It might make me look more cool and masculine.

Naruto only shook his head while smiling. "I don't think it'll work. Besides, you like the more feminine looks, right?"

"Oh, Naru-poppy, you really do know me too well."

Everyone could feel it, a long and florid speech which was about to happen, something everyone who'd met Haruko before was hoping to avoid. Makoto wasn't in the mood to let his teammate fly off the handle again, at least not with the exam going on, so he decided to cut the drama off at the pass. "Just go change your cloths Haru, we'll still be here."

"As ordered, Sir Makoto. I'll be back soon and in proper attire." He rushed out of area, leaving the genin stunned.

Sasuke eventually asked, "How exactly do you get him to listen to you?"

"It's a gift." Was the only reply the older genin would give. Naruto got a weird feeling when Makoto spoke, he didn't know how to describe it, all he could say was that it was strange.

Both Gaara and Kankuro wanted to chase after Haruko and attack him, but their Sensei stopped them, they had to win their rounds, it was part of the plan. If they did win, then the chances were good they'd face Haruko in a months time. It was enough to keep them in the area, but they were by no means calmed down. Even in his angered state, Kankuro noticed something odd, Gaara was acting just like him. He remembered the old Gaara, who didn't care about anyone or anything, but he didn't seem to fit with this new brother of his. He talked a more then before and didn't seem to be as blood thirsty, he'd been worried about Temari during their fight and had wanted to hunt down Haruko just like he had. _Maybe he's not as bad as he used to be._

"We will now choose the next pair of fighters." Examiner Gekko announced. Names flew across the screen once again until they stopped on the next pair. **Shikamaru Nara vs. Kin Tsuchi**.

Shikamaru seemed upset. "Man, why exactly do I have to fight a girl, they're just too troublesome."

Kin was already down in the arena, waiting for her opponent, so Ino decided to give her teammate some encouragement. "Come on Shika, you had your chance to quite earlier and you didn't, so now you have to fight." With that she pushed him over the railing and onto the arena ground.

Getting up, the boy dusted himself off and walked forward. "Damn, why are woman so troublesome. Sometimes I hope I end up gay just to avoid it all." Kin and every other woman in the area just stared at the boy, _Is he joking? I hope he's joking._

Hayate just ignored it all, "The fourth match will now commence."

* * *

Shikamaru walked away from the arena with only a few scratches. His opponent was unconscious, and most of the adults had been very impressed with the boy's display. Capturing his opponent's shadow then using the terrain to knock her out was a great display of strategy.

After the unconscious girl had been carted out of the area, the examiner made his usual statement. "The opponents for the fifth round will now be selected." Everyone watched as names flew through the screen and finally landed on **Makoto Kunosaki vs. Kiba Inuzuka**. The two competitors jumped down into the arena and were sizing each other up while the spectators had their own discussions.

"I know Kiba's strong," Naruto said, "But I don't know anything about that Makoto guy."

Satu decided to reply. "Out of our entire team, Makoto is the weakest physically. He's not nearly as strong as the rest of us, though he's the fastest and the most agile. He also has a special power."

"Special power?" Sasuke asked.

The older boy would have responded but they all became distracted at that point. "Oh, it appears it's Makoto's turn already. I came back just in time."

"Umm…" Hinata began. "I know you two don't know Kiba, but what do you think his chances are?"

After thinking for minute, Satu answered, "If Makoto fights normally, I'd say that kid has about 10 percent chance, as long as he has the same skills and strength most Inuzuka have. However, if Makoto uses his power then there's no hope for your teammate, he'll lose."

Hinata gulped at this, while Shino asked, "Why do you say that?"

"Because even we cannot defeat sir Makoto when he uses his power." Haruko replied. "I really doubt anyone could actually."

Everyone began watching intently as the Hayate made his announcement, "The fifth match will now begin."

**(TBC)**

* * *

**A/N:** All right, a evil way to end it but you'll just have to deal with it.

I've gotten back to writing one page a day in the morning, I seem to write better when I'm fresh awake. Hopefully this chapter is better then some of my previous ones. Speaking of this chapter, yes the match-ups are different and Kabuto's team is absent. Just trying to keep things original and interesting.

I've established that most things are different and Kiba is no longer Naruto's opponent this time. Anyone want to guess who I'm going to have Naruto fight? I'm not taking suggestions or anything, but it'd be fun to see who can get it right. While we're on guessing games, who wants to guess what Makoto's power is going to be? I'll give people who get it right a vitual cookie. The only hints I'll give is that its original and slightly alluded too.

See you all next time.


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto nor any characters or abilities created by Masashi Kishimoto. Original characters, abilities and bloodlines in this story (there will be) are mine. If someone out there thinks an ability or character of mine is cool and wishes to use it, feel free. I only ask that you give me credit.

**Date:** 10/15/08

**Summary:** While running from an angry mob on his birthday, seven-year-old Naruto finds himself in a strange land where a shinobi turned priest offers to train him as a ninja. Naruto eventually discovers there is more to the world then just shinobi when he unlocks his spiritual power. Not a super Naruto fic (I hate those ones) but more of a smart and wise Naruto fic.

**Reviews:** Please review. I enjoy reviews, even if its only one or two words. I do not appreciate flames. If you don't like this story, its concept, or my writing style then don't read it. Don't read it then complain to me about it.

Spiritual Fox  
Chapter 19: The Power of Words

Kiba was tensed and ready for action, Akamaru was by his side and his opponent was in a relaxed stance, he didn't even seem ready to fight. With a smirk, Kiba began mocking his enemy. "I know you're a few years older then me, but what's with that stance? It looks like you don't even know how to fight." Akamaru barked his agreement, but Makoto simply stood there with his eyes closed, not reacting to his opponent's words. Finally, Kiba gave a feral grin and said, "If your not going to fight then you should just give up."

Makoto opened his eyes to stare at Kiba before saying, "No, you're the one who should give up." Kiba flinched as if burned by the teen's words. "You're weak and slow, far more then me. You don't have the ability to win against me."

The Inuzuka was stunned for a moment before getting into a fighting stance. And shouting "You don't know what your talking about!" He attacked his opponent, but the other boy dodged while he continued to talk down to the younger genin.

On the catwalk, everyone watched as the blue hair nin dodged Kiba's attacks. Nobody was prepared for Satu saying, "Kiba is doomed."

Everyone looked at the boy confused, while Haruko agreed with him. "Yes, if Kiba hadn't told him to give up then he would have given him a chance."

"What are you guys talking about?" Sakura said. "I don't see him using anything unusual, not a jutsu or a weapon."

Hinata had her Byakugan activated, as did Negi. Sasuke and Kakashi had their Sharingan activated but they all came to the same conclusion which the Hyuga girl voiced, "Yes, his chakra isn't being used, he's doing nothing special."

Haru only replied, "We never said it was anything special, in fact its something everyone can do. We can't see it, but right now Kiba's being bound by something far stronger then chains. People are bound by all sorts of things. Ties decided by nature, the flow of time, our bodies, our hearts, chains like that are common to everything that's alive. But there are some bonds which only humans can use, and right now Kiba's being bound by just such chains." **(1)**

Everyone watched the fight confused, nothing was happening. Kiba was attacking with Akamaru, but Makoto was dodging everything without fighting. The only thing he was doing was talking to Kiba, continuously telling him that he was slow and weak, that he couldn't win.

Finally Shino said, "Something's wrong with Kiba. His attacks are a lot slower and weaker then they usually are."

Hinata nodded her head, "Yes, even Akamaru has stopped attacking to find out what's wrong with him." It was true, the nin dog was barking at his master, worried about his poor performance. Kiba himself was confused, _I know I can move faster then this. What's going on?_

Kurenai also agreed with her other students. "Kiba is normally much faster then this, but I can't see his opponent doing anything to him. Makoto isn't using even a slow acting genjutsu, all he's doing is talking."

Naruto agreed with the others, but he felt he was missing something. There was something nagging in the back of his mind, like there was a piece of information he should know but was forgetting. He thought back to his other short encounters with the older child, and the only unusual thing he could remember was the strange feeling he got when the other boy talked. Talked… talking. He suddenly remembered something Yoshi had told him once.

_"Words are far more powerful then most people give them credit for, little Naru. Words are vocalized thoughts and thoughts make up a person's reality. If a person thinks they're weak, then they become weak. If they truly think their life is bad, then it doesn't matter how wonderful their life actual is, their life will be miserable. And words are the vocalized form of those thoughts, one cannot use words unless they're able to think first. Words can affect not only yourself, but other people too."_

It was the only thing that made sense to him, so he decided to asked the older genin. "Haru, Satu, the thing that can bind someone tighter then chains, are you talking about words?"

Both the older boys and their teacher looked at Naruto with shock. They had never guessed what Makoto's power, they hadn't even believed him when he'd told them about his power. It had only been over time that they'd come to accept what he'd said as truth.

Sasuke was disbelieving. "What are you talking about idiot, words don't do anything."

"Your wrong Young Sasuke." Replied Haruko. "Naruto is right, Makoto's power is the Power of Words. We didn't believe it at first either, but it's true. Words can be terrifying things, you can't take them back once they've left your mouth. You can't just act as if they were never said, and without knowing how tightly they can bind people constantly use these chains. Words have life, and in time they can even bind one's right to live." **(2)**

"What are you talking about?" Sakura butted in. "I talk all the time, but nothing special happens." I still can't get Sasuke to go on a date with me.

Satu took it upon himself to answer. "There are usually many factors involved, such as who's listening, who's speaking and the relationship between the two. Some people are more easily affected by words." Naruto glanced at Hinata. "While others aren't moved by them. Some people have naturally high charisma which can influence others easily" Kakashi glanced over at Naruto. "Then there's the relationship between the two, a stranger won't affect someone as strong as their idol or parent would. Makoto, however, completely breaks these rules."

Washi took the time to finish, "His words affect everyone the same. Young or old, stranger or friend, his words affect everyone as if it he were someone they respected greatly. If he tells someone that they're weak, then they believe themselves to be weak and they in turn become weak. Things which could take months to convince people of can be done by Makoto in only a few minutes."

Nobody except Naruto could believe such a thing was possible. However, none of then could believe Kiba could be so slow either. Makoto was telling Kiba other things, that his body was heavy and he should stop moving. That he was tired and needed to rest, and Kiba seemed to be reflecting those words. He'd stopped moving and looked like he hadn't had any sleep in days.

"The effects aren't permanent." Haru continued. "He'll be back to his old self in a day or so, but while Makoto's speaking Kiba will think his words are truth and reflect those words. It's a terrifying power, it even scares Makoto. So much so that he never speaks unless he needs to, for fear of affecting people with his words. Watch, soon our teammate will have convinced Kiba to forfeit the match."

Shino and Hinata couldn't believe it, if there was one thing they knew about Kiba it was that he never gave up. Sometimes during a spar, Kurenai had to knock the boy out to stop him from hurting himself too much.

Makoto, began talking about giving up, just like Haruko predicted. "You should just quit, Kiba. You're tired, you're outmatched, continuing would only be humiliating for yourself."

Kiba's internal struggle was apparent, _I can't give up, I never surrender._

"It would be so easy, to just raise your hand and withdraw. I know it, your just so tired and forfeiting would let you rest. Your in a fight you can't win, what's the point of going on when you don't have any hope. It takes a big man to know when he doesn't stand a chance and should withdraw. Only someone truly strong could do something like that."

_I'm just so tired, I can't win so there's no point in going on. It just so easy to give up all I have to do is raise my hand._ No sooner had he thought such a thing then he shocked his entire team by raising his hand with resignation in his eyes.

"No way." None of the Konoha genin from his year could believe what was happening. This was the same Kiba who went all out during his spars. The same ninja who, during academy taijutsu practice, always fought until he was finally knocked out.

Akamaru was frantically barking. Not able to understand why his master, his partner, was giving up so easily. Kiba looked over at his nin dog, but couldn't find the energy to answer him, _Sorry Akamaru. I'm just too tired to go on. I'd rather save some face and go out with a little dignity._ "I Kiba Inuzuka would like to-"

"KIBA YOU IDIOT, DON'T YOU DARE GIVE UP THAT EASILY!" Everyone was surprised by Naruto's sudden outburst. "KEEP FIGHTING! EVEN IF IT SEEMS HOPELESS NOW, YOU MIGHT FIND A WAY LATER IN THE FIGHT! YOU'RE FAST AND STRONG KIBA, DON'T LET YOURSELF BE TIED DOWN BY HIS WORDS!"

The Inuzuka looked horribly insecure as he responded. "But… but I can't…"

"Yes you can Kiba. You can win this fight, I know you can do it. You've got the speed, strength, and energy, now use it!" He pointed at his friend's opponent. "And you, if you talk again during this fight, I'm going to come down and beat the shit out you, exam or not." Makoto simply smiled as Naruto turned back to the Inuzuka and said, "Show him who's boss, tell him who's going to kick his ass and who's going to win."

Everyone watched as Kiba got into a fighting stance, he still seemed insecure but not as much as before. "I'm gonna kick you ass and win this thing you freak." With that he began attacking again. He was still slower then normal, but Naruto was cheering for him and Makoto was keeping his silence. His friend's encouragement was having the opposite effect then Kunosaki's words. Kiba's attacks were still weak but they were gaining strength with every minute.

Most of the adults had realized what was happening, and one by one the other genin realized it too. Haruko had said it himself, everyone could use words. Naruto's words were countering the doubts Makoto had put there, Akamaru's support had helped him too, they'd begun fighting together again. Kiba had decided to take things to the next level, he fed both himself and his companion a chakra pellet, causing his dog's fur to change red until he used beast mimicry on the animal to change him into a Kiba copy. Naruto stopped his cheering when Akamaru transformed and began quietly watching the fight, and when the Inuzuka attacked they all knew why, his power was back to normal.

Haruko looked at the blond genin with admiration, "I don't think I've ever seen someone counter Makoto's power like. You really are something little Naru-poppy."

With a smile, the boy replied, "Kiba's my friend, I just wanted to give him his chances back."

Hinata blushed at the blond boy, the way he'd helped Kiba, even if it was just to talk to him, left her breathless. It made her want to be like that too.

"Yosh!" Lee spoke up as he watched the genin and his animal clone attack their opponent. "He's broken free of Makoto's manipulations. Kiba's Flames of Youth must burn especially bright."

"Yes, he's broken free of his words," Washi replied. "But now he has to survive my student's other skills."

"Other skills?" Kurenai asked.

Even though Kiba's speed had increased, Makoto was still dodging with little to no trouble. It doesn't matter how powerful my attacks are if I can't hit him. This sucks. Then the blue haired genin began weaving hand signs, causing both Kiba and Akamaru to rush their opponent, neither wanted to give the older boy a chance to attack. Unfortunately, they weren't in time, Makoto finished his signs and the world became black for Kiba. He couldn't see anything, it was like all the light had been sucked out of the room and the sound had been turned off. He stopped dead in his tracks trying to figure out what was happening, then just as quickly as the darkness had come it was gone. He regained his vision just in time to see his double being punched square in the jaw and transforming back into a dog as it fell on the ground. "Akamaru!"

On the cat walk, almost everyone was confused. The two Kiba's had tried to attack during Makoto's sign weaving but after he'd finished his jutsu one of them had come to a stop and looked around confused. The other Kiba had stopped to check on his counterpart and had left himself open to an attack by their opponent. Kakashi nodded his head and turned to Washi, "You've raised a clever and powerful genjutsu user, my friend."

"Thank you."

"Genjutsu?" Most of the other genin still didn't know what had happened.

Haruko decided to respond, "Yes, our team is comprised of a Ninjutsu user, myself, a Tai and Kenjustu user, Satu, and a Genjutsu user, Makoto. We're a balanced team, and our blue haired companion is well on his way to becoming a Genjutsu Master."

Kakashi explained the fight. "Makoto didn't know which Kiba was the real one, so he used a low level genjutsu which affected only humans to separate the two. Now that Akamaru's out of the way, he'll won't have any trouble finishing off Kiba."

Kiba was kneeling by his partner, making sure he wasn't critically injured and he was happy to find that he was only unconscious. Makoto was standing by silently making even more hand signs, and preparing for his next jutsu. Once again Kiba rushed forward trying to attack before the older boy could complete his jutsu, but was once again too late. This time, however, things didn't go dark around the dog boy. Nothing seemed to happen at all as he rushed forward and punched Makoto in the gut. Kiba was happy he'd finally got a hit in until the other boy began emitting a strange smell. When Kiba finally looked at his opponent, he found himself fighting a rotten corpse. It's hair was gone, its skin was sagging, chunks of flesh were missing from it's body revealing only bone.

The boy tried to get away from the creature but it just clung to him, the feel of the monster's skin as it touched him and its smell were over powering. Kiba didn't even have time to contemplate how impossible the situation was as more zombies began coming out of the ground and kept grabbing him. It didn't matter how many times he slashed at the creatures with his kunai, they never fell and just kept coming.

On the catwalks, the rest of the teams watched as Kiba slashed at imaginary monsters while screaming about corpses. Eventually, what ever illusion he'd been trapped in proved too much as he fell unconscious. Finally Hayate declared, "The winner of the fifth match is Makoto Kunosaki."

Kurenai analyzed the match for everyone. "The moment Kiba fell under the genjutsu, if Akamaru had stayed with him and broken the techniques then they stood a chance. The best way to fight a genjutsu user is to have a partner who can break the techniques on you, which Akamaru could have done for Kiba if they had recognized the genjutsu."

Everyone was amazed by the blue haired genin's skill. He'd only been out of the academy for two years and genjutsu was already at such an advanced level. His punch had been enough to knock out Akamaru as well, so he had a fair amount of strength and he was quick enough to dodge all of Kiba's attacks. All in all, he seemed like a very powerful opponent. Sasuke was very happy with the match, he's used his Sharingan the whole time and finally learned how to use it to copy other jutsu. With a little practice, he knew he'd eventually be able to use those genjutsu that Makoto had used.

After Kiba and Akamaru had been carted off the field, the examiner announced the beginning of the next round. Names flew across the screen and everyone looked on with anticipation, the genin had been cut down by half the others began wondering just who they'd be facing. Finally the screen stopped on **Shino Aburame vs. Dosu Kinuta**, and the two opponents jumped down to the arena to prepare for battle.

Shino wasn't too worried about the sound nin, he's seen him fight with Kabuto and he'd only used some supersonic attack, his biggest worry was fire jutsu. Dosu, on the other hand, was extremely tense. He needed to prove himself to his master, he wanted to make up for his teammates failures. _Kin lost and Zaku gave up, I have to win for Master's sake._

Eventually the examiner declared the beginning of the match and Zaku immediately jumped in with a sonic attack from his arm band. He'd hit his opponent squarely, but what he didn't expect was for Shino to dissolve into a large amount of insects which began crawling all over him. "Bugs?"

"Yes, bugs." Came a calm voice behind him. He turned around to find his sunglass wearing opponent had somehow replaced himself with an insect clone. "And with this the match is as good as over."

"Not even close!" Dosu turned around to use his sonic attack, but when he hit his armband nothing happened. In fact, he was getting tired like something was zapping his strength quickly.

"Yes, this match is already over. The premise of your jutsu uses two factors, you focus chakra into your armband then use the device to make a devastating shockwave. However…" Insects began crawling out of the armband making Dosu recoil in disgust. "My insects have infested your device, stopping it from vibrating and creating sound. Not only that, an Aburame's insects can consume Chakra, so your device isn't getting the energy it needs to work."

Dosu began to panic, the little chakra bugs were all over him, he couldn't swipe them off because they just crawled back on him. They were too small to cut off, and he couldn't crush them by rolling on the ground because they'd just flee and return. _Even if I did that, it wouldn't get the bugs off my weapon so I wouldn't be able to attack._ All Dosu could do was glare hatefully at his opponent.

Shino kept this expression blank as he said, "My insects tell me that you're out of chakra, this fight is over."

Dosu snapped, "Nothing is over, I won't lose!" He charged at Shino with a kunai in his hand, blindly hoping to stab his opponent. However, even more insects flew off their host and completely covered the sound nin. After a few seconds, the boy collapsed and the bugs flew off their pray leaving him unconscious.

"The winner of the sixth match is Shino Aburame."

"Damn, that was fast, and anticlimactic." Sakura voiced the thought of everyone in the area. Compared to Kiba and Makoto's match, Dosu's performance was just pathetic.

"We will now begin the selection for the seventh match." After Hayate spoke, names once again flew across the screen until they landed on,** Rock** **Lee vs. Naruto Uzumaki**.

The two Konoha Genin looked at each other. Naruto knew that Lee was a master of taijutsu, his earlier fight with Sasuke was still in his mind, but he didn't know any of his other techniques. Likewise, Lee knew Naruto had been the strongest of his year in taijutsu but he hadn't been rookie of the year nor did he come from a strong clan so he hadn't taken much time to know any of his other abilities.

Within a second, the two had jumped down to arena thinking the same thought, This is going to be interesting.

On the balconies, Negi said, "Naruto's doomed. There's no way he could stand up to Lee's Taijutsu. Even I have trouble with it."

"Don't say that." Sakura replied. "Naruto was the best at taijutsu in our year, and he knows a lot of useful techniques. I don't know his chances, but he won't give up easily."

"The seventh fight will now commence."

Lee got into a fighting stance, prepared to let Naruto make the first move. Big mistake Lee, if you had attacked first I'd probably never win, but now I have a chance. He made his familiar hand signs and suddenly there were at least 20 Kage Bunshin. Everyone except Team 7 was shocked. Shadow Clones were something only a jonin could create, and most didn't have enough chakra to make and sustain 20. Naruto wasn't even winded either so he could definitely make more. "All right guys let's win this." The blond's command was followed by a multitude of "Yosh" as the clones rushed forward to attack.

Lee was just as shocked as the others, but didn't break a sweat as he defended himself. Negi looked at the fight with distain. "Lee can't be taken out by that small amount of numbers. That idiot will only tire himself out."

Neither Sakura nor Sasuke were able to respond. They knew their teammate was smarter then this, but they couldn't see a strategy involved with rushing a skilled opponent with such small numbers. Only Kakashi could understand the boy's intensions, and couldn't help but agree that there was no other way to win against such a powerful taijutsu master.

With in a minute, Lee had defeated the Naruto clones and didn't seem tired in the slightest. He simply smirked at his opponent as the blond genin used the same hand sings to make a dozen more clones. The process repeated itself, Naruto sent his clones out to fight while staying behind. Lee could easily have gone in for the kill and defeated the real Naruto, but he decided fighting multiple targets was more fun then a quick win.

"Ok, this is weird. Naruto is usually a lot smarter then this." Sakura said with confusion.

Sasuke nodded his head. "I have to agree, that idiot is usually far more clever. He can't expect to win just by sending out clones."

Everyone in the stands agreed, except for Kakashi, "Those clones aren't meant to defeat his opponent." Everyone stared at the Copy Nin as Lee finished off the last clone. Then to everyone's surprise, the real Naruto rushed the spandex wearing nin and began his own taijutsu assault. What truly amazed the remaining audience was that the blond was far faster then his clone armies had been. In fact, Naruto was actually getting a few hits in while dodging Lee's strikes, something none of the spectators thought could happen.

Gai personally thought it was very strange. At most, Naruto's only seen Lee fight once or twice, there's no way that blond could be predicting Lee's movements no matter how brightly his Flames of Youth burn. He'd either need years worth of fighting experience or have fought Lee multiple… Then he understood what his rival had meant. "Kakashi, does that child know the last secret behind Kage Bunshin?"

With a smile on his face, the one eyed shinobi responded, "Yes. I see you realized why Naruto made all those clones at the beginning."

"What do you mean, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura was incredibly curious as to why Naruto had made those first moves. Sasuke listened while watching the fight, also interested in Naruto's first clone waves.

"The final method of using Kage Bunshin is for information gathering. When a Shadow Clone is destroyed it sends everything it learns back to it's creator. If it read a document, then the original would know what was in that document. If it fought an opponent then it's creator would gain that experience, and that's exactly what Naruto has done. He used those first two bunshin attacks to gain knowledge of Lee's fighting patterns. He can predict Lee's movements as if he's fought with the boy for weeks." In the arena, Naruto used his deadly Wind Burst to try and hit Lee, but the green wearing genin easily dodged the wind attack. Naruto, however, had successfully predicted when and where his opponent would dodge to and countered with a kick that Lee wasn't expecting and couldn't avoid. The boy was sent flying into a wall while clutching his stomach "Naruto would never have been able to beat Lee in the beginning, but now he has a fighting chance."

Satu decided to add in his two bits, "Even if one did gain experience through Kage Bunshin, it would still take a great amount of skill to read his opponent's movement's like that. Naruto must be an amazing fighter."

Gai simply smirked, "His opponent may be good, but my Lee is better." As the man spoke, his pupil got up. Naruto's kick hadn't seemed to have done much damage at all. "His Flames of Youth won't be put out so easily."

The green wearing boy smiled at his adversary, "It seems I've greatly underestimated you my younger friend." Getting into a proper fighting stance, Lee continued. "Our warm-up is over, I'm now taking this seriously."

Naruto got into his own stance. "It wouldn't be any fun if you weren't serious." On the catwalks, the Hokage had been observing the fight with great interest. Something about Naruto's fighting stance had been nagging at the back of his mind, and now he knew just what it was. _His fighting matches the taijutsu style of the First Hokage. He said he learned it from Yoshi Ichihara, but how did that man learn such taijutsu? As far as I know, Hashirama never taught it to anyone._

**(TBC)**

* * *

**A/N:** All right, another chapter done and more plot twists. "That Guy" gets a virtual cookie for guessing Makoto's ability (hands over a cookie). I guess it wasn't that hard a guess to make, but I thought it might be fun. The power of words is something looked at in xxxHolic vol. 4, how saying something is impossible makes the action impossible and how the words of others can bind someone as well. More of Makoto's past will be revealed eventually, but lets just leave it at that.

**(1&2)**- Both of these lines are adapted from things that Yuko says in xxxHolic vol. 4. They aren't direct quotes, but its still noteworthy.

I'm really not sure if genjutsu is able to affect nin animals or not, I don't think it was ever covered. I'm not too sure, but I think genjutsu is something that only affects humans so that's why only Kiba was affected.

More plot twists have been added, Yoshi Ichihara has a connection with the First Hokage. Naruto vs. Lee, both using taijutsu, neither willing to give up. How will it all end? You'll find out next time.


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto nor any characters or abilities created by Masashi Kishimoto. Original characters, abilities and bloodlines in this story (there will be) are mine. If someone out there thinks an ability or character of mine is cool and wishes to use it, feel free. I only ask that you give me credit.

**Date:** 04/25/09

**Summary:** While running from an angry mob on his birthday, seven-year-old Naruto finds himself in a strange land where a shinobi turned priest offers to train him as a ninja. Naruto eventually discovers there is more to the world then just shinobi when he unlocks his spiritual power. Not a super Naruto fic (I hate those ones) but more of a smart and wise Naruto fic.

**Reviews:** Please review. I enjoy reviews, even if its only one or two words. I do not appreciate flames. If you don't like this story, its concept, or my writing style then don't read it. Don't read it then complain to me about it.

Spiritual Fox  
Chapter 20: The Light of a Fox

Naruto's plan seemed to be working, Lee hadn't been hitting him very often, but he hadn't been able to damage the 'youthful' nin as much as he'd hoped. _I need to finish this fight quickly, Lee's still calm so he probably still has a couple of aces hidden up his sleeves. I need to beat him before he plays those cards._ Once again, Naruto created a few Shadow Clones, three in all, but rushed in to fight Lee alone leaving the doubles behind.

The green wearing genin didn't have time to ponder Naruto's actions, at his current speed he needed to focus on the attacking blond. Naruto was an excellent opponent by Lee's standards, his Taijutsu was sound and he could read his movements as if they'd fought for weeks. Naruto surprised him by halting his attack and jumping back while making a hand signs, it was then that Lee realized the other blonds had surrounded him on three sides and they were all weaving the same signs.

As soon as the eyebrow enlarged genin thought that, the surrounding blonds all released their Wind Blasts. They may not have been deadly, but their wider ranges completely boxed Lee in, leaving him one option to escape the attacks. The teen jumped up as high as he could to dodge the winds while keeping watch on the opponents below him, he knew that an opponent in the air had a difficult time dodging so he needed to be ready for the blond's next attack. The wind jutsu collided below, causing an explosion of winds in every direction, but even in the confusion Naruto didn't attack, he didn't even try to use another jutsu. Then Lee's back was in pain as something attack him, he began to fall as he looked back to see another Naruto had punched him without warning.

_When did he put one on the ceiling? Was it back during those first two clone waves? Did he think that far ahead?_ Lee didn't bother attacking the clone, instead he used it like a platform to jump away onto one of the statue's heads. _If I stay in the air and fight the hidden clone, then I'll leave myself open for attack from the other four on the ground. This Naruto Uzumaki is a strong fighter, I don't think I can win unless I can open the gates._

On the catwalks, the remaining ninja were discussing the battle. "Naruto really is strong." Ino said, "But what about that Lee kid? Why isn't he using any ninjutsu."

Gai decided to answer that question, "Its because he can't." Everyone turned to look at the man. "Lee has never had any aptitude for ninjutsu or genjutsu, so he's never practiced them. All he can perform is taijutsu, and that's why he can't loose." Right before the two began fighting again, they were interrupted by Gai, "Lee, go ahead and take them off!"

Naruto looked over at the jonin, wondering what he was talking about. Lee was simply shocked. "Sensei, you said to never do that unless I'm protecting someone I love."

With a shiny grin and a thumbs up, Gai replied, "Don't worry, I'll allow it."

With a grin on his face, the bushy brow nin proceeded to pull down his leggings and reveal the weights there. Naruto knew he should attack with his clones, do something before the other boy's preparations were complete. Unfortunately, there was a curiosity within him that wanted to see his opponent at full power, so simply waited as Lee took off the weights and dropped them on the ground. He, nor anyone else in the room, could believe it when the weights made huge craters where they landed, "Now I can fight without restraint."

The only thing which save Naruto were his own instincts and the knowledge he'd gained from his Kage Bunshin, Lee had become so fast that Naruto could barely track his opponent. He couldn't even block, the only thing he could do was move himself in the direction of the attack to lessen the blow. As Naruto was sent back, he realized Lee had attacked him and destroyed all his bunshin in only a few seconds. _This fight just got a hell of a lot harder._

Lee's attacks had become lightning quick, Naruto could only dodge and block half of the punches and kicks. What attacks he couldn't block, he was able to lessen the damage by moving into or with the strikes, but at that speed it was all instinct and incredibly tiring. _I'm having to focus all my chakra into my legs to keep up my defense, but I can't do this forever. I have to find a way to attack or he'll eventually wear me down, but I don't have time to weave signs either._ Then he remembered something that'd happened to him a long time ago, at this level of battle even the smallest error could make him lose. _But I have to do something or I'll fail anyways._ Naruto had enough experience to know his opponent's attack pattern, he'd found a few habits to exploit and hoped this technique would be effective against Lee. He had to take a couple of blows while weaving his hand sign, but that was a small price to pay.

Everyone thought Naruto was going to lose, Lee was just too fast and powerful a taijutsu user to be countered. Even if Naruto did use a jutsu Lee could simply dodge with his speed. Then the blond stopped and took a few hits while making hand signs. With their Sharingan, both Kakashi and Sasuke recognized the jutsu and wondered what the short fool was thinking. _Those hand sings and that strange yellow chakra are components of that Lighting Jutsu,_ Sasuke thought._ But what can a reading light do in this situation?_ Then something completely unexpected happened, Naruto threw up his hand right in Lee's face and created not a reading light, but a blinding flash which completely surprised everyone watching. Those who didn't have a doujutsu were slightly blinded by the light the blond had made, but none of that compared to Lee's reaction. The light was point blank in his eyes, even if he'd closed his eyes like Naruto he would have affected. Lee cover his eyes with his hands, a natural instinct of human, but he was in a fight and that left a wide opening for Naruto.

The blond began punching and kicking with all his might, knowing that strategy wouldn't work a second time. He needed to finish the fight while Lee was still blinded, so Naruto created a half dozed clones to fight as well. Everyone who could still see watched as the blond began his counter barrage of punches and kicks, he even attacked with Wind Blast at one point (Lee was able to feel the attack coming, but couldn't avoid it completely).

Eventually the green ninja regained his senses before Naruto could finish things, but he was in horrible condition. While the blond tried not to do anything lethal or carrier ending, he was pretty sure he'd broken a few bones and caused some internal bleeding. Both students were panting hard while the observing teams kept talking. "I never knew that Lighting Jutsu could make a flash like that," Sakura said.

Sasuke had seen the jutsu before, he'd even just witnessed it with his Sharingan, but he still couldn't copy the technique. _It's that strange chakra, I need to figure it out how he makes it._

Lee knew he should quit, using the gates in his current state would be suicide and his leg was broken or fractured, either way he couldn't move like he had before. There was also the pain his body was in, probably caused by damaged organs, internal bleeding and all around bruising caused by Naruto's attacks. Gai, however, had never taught him to quit or give up. Such actions weren't in his nature, so Lee's mind began racing to figure out how to win. _I know I hurt Naruto earlier with my attacks, but he's either already healed or able to block out his pain. In any event I'm at a disadvantage here._

Naruto was also trying to figure out how to end the fight. He hadn't bothered asking Lee to quit, the older boy was a strong and proud warrior, asking him to quit would be the same as asking him to cut off his own head. _If I don't end this quickly, he'll be in serious trouble. Lee's body already has internal damage, any more could be life threatening. But I can't just knock him out, even in his injured state I can't underestimate him._

Then before everyone's eyes, Lee fell to the ground with his teacher standing right behind him and catching the boy. "This match is over." Gai announced, "Lee can no longer fight."

Everyone observing the fights was shocked, Naruto especially. Lee's own teacher had knocked him out so he wouldn't increase his wounds. "Are you sure it's ok to end it this way?" The blond asked.

"Yes. He's too hurt to continue, even if he did win this fight he could die from his wounds. As his teacher that's not something I can let happen even if he hates me for it."

Gai nodded at Hayate who nodded back and finally announced, "The winner of this fight is Naruto Uzumaki." Medics rushed out to examine the green wearing nin, leaving Naruto feeling dissatisfied. He was happy to have won, but he'd wanted to finish the fight under his own power and not have it handed to him by Gai.

Sasuke smirked on the balconies, "That fool couldn't even finish his own fight."

"You really should watch what you say, Sasuke." Kakashi replied. "Naruto was able to survive against Lee's true strength and even pushed him to the point of collapse. If your teammate had just been looking for a quick win then he could have gotten it when Lee was blind, but those methods would have been life threatening. Naruto was trying to win without endangering his opponent's life, that is a much more difficult task than just a win at any cost."

Naruto had returned to the balconies and it was clear, he was not happy with the situation. He really had wanted a true win, not something given to him by Gai. Sasuke didn't say anything to the blond's face, in his current mood it could easily start another fight and Sasuke was still sore from his own match.

Soon, Lee was rushed off by the medics and given a stable status. Soon, Hayate made his usual announcement and the next combatants were chosen, **Hyuga Hinata vs. Kankuro**, and the two looked at each other.

Kankuro wrote his opponent off as an easy win. Though a Hyuga, she'd been nervous since the fights began. She showed very little confidence, and even if his tricks didn't work on her Byakugan, she still wasn't powerful enough to fight him.

Unfortunately, Hinata was thinking the same thing. However, she was also thinking something else, _Naruto is going to be watching, so I'll have to keep fighting. I don't want him looking down on me too._ The two opponents jumped down to the ring and before the match could even begin, Hinata used her eyes and called out to Kankuro, "You realize that a trick like that is worthless against me."

Everyone except Kankuro's team and Negi was surprised when the pack the Sand Genin wore unraveled to reveal another Kankuro. Most of the jonin became more understanding when the skin on the first boy melted away to reveal a life-size puppet. The puppet wielder simply nodded and replied, "I am aware. The only way to fight you with my skills is head on."

Most of the genin looked on in confusion, and surprisingly it was Naruto who decided to showcase his knowledge. "Kankuro is a puppet user, he uses invisible chakra strings to manipulate his dolls to have them fight while he hides himself. However, Hinata's Byakugan lets her see chakra, as well as through objects. The Sand Genin can't use tricks like that against a Hyuga."

Kakashi nodded in agreement. "The Hyuga clan also uses the Gentle Fist technique, which lets them harm a person's internal organs as well as shut off their ability to use chakra by attacking their Tenketsu. They can also use Gentle Fist to destroy chakra constructs, such as chakra strings."

Gai decided to finish the pre-match analysis. "Kankuro will try to attack Hinata with his puppets, which do not have internal organs nor Tenketsu so Gentle Fist won't damage it directly. She can, however, see and cut the chakra strings which are used to manipulate the doll. It will be a fight of speed and skill, if Hinata can disable the puppets first, she'll win. If Kankuro can avoid having his puppet's strings cut and capture Hinata, then he'll win."

Hayate once again coughed and announced, "The 8th match will now begin."

And with that one word, both genin blurred into action, Hinata rushing forward to try and force Kankuro into a close range battle, while the puppet wielder was trying to keep his distance so he could use his dolls. Hinata was actually impressing her teammates, she usually never moved that fast. Her determination was surprising everyone, including Naruto.

Unfortunately, it still wasn't enough. The disparity between their skills was great enough that the Hyuga girl couldn't cut the puppet strings, but she could avoid it's attacks. After a few minutes of attacking, Kankuro did something unexpected, he took out a sealing scroll and unleashed a second puppet. It was difficult for the half-trained puppet handler to use two dolls at a time, but it was enough to do the trick. Hinata, while she was able to cut the strings of the attack puppet, left herself vulnerable to second. Hinata knew that if she'd been stronger, she might have been able to used the Kaiten to free herself, but lack of skill meant her father had taught her the technique.

Hinata, to her credit, didn't stop struggling. Even though she knew that with her strength she couldn't break free, she continued to fight against the puppet's grasp. Eventually, Hayate called the match in Kankuro's favor, and the puppet handler let the girl go. He had considered just killing the girl during the match, but had decided against it. It wouldn't do to have the Hyuga after him for killing one of their own, no matter how weak she was.

When they returned to the viewing area, Hinata was almost in tears. Frustrated with herself for losing in front of Naruto, she really didn't want to see disappointment or pity in his eyes. However, she wasn't expecting the boy to pat her on the back while saying, "Good try, Hinata." When she looked up, the only thing she could see in his eyes was pride.

"But… but I lost. Again." She couldn't help but feel like the failure that she was. She could feel the tears welling in her eyes.

Naruto could see her inner torment, and decided to offer her some advice. "So what?" Hinata looked up into her crushes eyes. "If you fail, there's nothing you can really do about that. But your still alive and have your limbs, and that's something to be proud of. You just need to figure out your mistakes and learn from them, then the next time you take the exam you'll be even better and you'll pass for sure!"

Naruto's words gave Hinata a little bit of hope, Hinata's team and their instructor looked on in approval. They often gave Hinata the same advice, but it never really seemed to affect her as much as the blonds words. In as soft a voice as she could, the young Hyuga replied, "Thank you."

She had no way of knowing that Naruto had heard her, especially when the blond pointed excitedly to the arena and said, "Look Hinata, the next match is about to start." The girl wiped the tears that had half formed and looked down to see the fighters had already been decided and were in position. The two standing there were Neji and Gaara.

The Hyuga male wanted to talk before the fight began. "They don't seem to teach the ninja very well in your village." Gaara silently looked at his opponent while he continued. "Your teammate should have killed that weakling of a Hyuga the moment he captured her."

Most of the people on the catwalks were stunned by Neji's words. Only Hinata, the jonin, and his own team found his words to be understandable, if not justified. Gaara was curious enough to ask his own question, "That doesn't really sound like something one would say about their family. What is making you so bitter." Gaara knew just how warped a person could get, but the teen in front of him didn't seem twisted.

Neji simply stared back at the sand user and replied, "It's not about bitterness, its just that she's a failure. She's suppose to be the next head of the Hyuga clan, but she had no skill or ability. She is simply a disappointment to the entire clan, she's better off dead."

Hinata looked like her entire world was about to crash down around her, it was bad enough to hear whispers and see cold stares, but to have someone simply say thing like that out loud was infinitely worse. What she wasn't expecting was for Gaara's expression to turn very dark, only the remaining Sand Shinobi and Naruto understood the red head's reaction. "So, your saying that if someone is a failure then they're completely worthless, is that it?"

Negi didn't really know why his opponent seemed to care, but he answered the question regardless. "Yes, that is my belief."

Naruto and Kankuro both knew it was the wrong answer to give, and soon everyone else knew it too when Gaara let off an impressive amount of killer intent, far more then anyone his age should be able to produce. Neji was momentarily paralyzed, and even began to fear his opponent. "I'll be sure to feed you those words after I tear off your arm and watch you bleed." The look on the red head's face was told everyone he was dead serious about his threat.

Hayate even took the precaution of jumping back as far as possible before saying, "The next match will now begin."

Neji activated his Byakugan and rushed forward, wanting to stop his opponent from using the Sand techniques he'd seen in the forest. However, Gaara didn't waste time either. The cork on his gourd flew off and his sand rushed out to attack his opponent, swiping at Neji while also trying to impale him in almost every direction, and the Hyuga was able to dodge it all.

The spectators couldn't believe the fight, the genin were surprised by Neji's skill, and Hinata explained how the Byakugan could see in a 360 degree radius. However, even the adults had never seen sand manipulation like Gaara's before. Unlike with Kankuro's puppets, the sand wasn't controlled by chakra strings so the Gentle Fist technique couldn't disable it completely, and when his attacks did break apart the sand it quickly reformed and continued it's assault.

Gaara then pulled his sand back and Neji let himself fall into a guarding stance, awaiting the next wave. The sand soon formed into small bullets which completely surrounded Neji in all directions, the sand ninja then held out his hand and smirked while mocking his opponent, "Dodge this." His hand closed and the projectiles closed in on the Hyuga on all sides, too fast for a replacement jutsu to counter. However, Neji didn't seem to need a replacement, his skin began to glow for a few seconds and he spun around, throwing all of the sand projectiles away and clearing the path between himself and Gaara.

"The- the Kaiten?" Hinata said aloud. Neji rushed forward to attack his opponent directly, but Gaara's automatic defense kicked in and his sand easily protected him from his opponent's attacks.

"Kaiten?" Sasuke asked out loud, Gaara had decided to simply let his defense work while he tried to figure out just how to break through Neji's own shield.

"It's the ultimate defense of the Gentle Fist technique." Explained the girl. "A Gentle Fist practitioner can expel chakra from their entire body to block an attac, and the spin repels the attack from their body. However…" The match was going nowhere fast. Neji kept trying to get through Gaara sand defense, but he wasn't nearly fast enough to make it happen.

Ino couldn't handle the sudden pause, "However?" she replied, trying to encourage her former classmate to continue.

"However, Neji is a branch member of the Hyuga clan. Kaiten is a technique only passed down in the Main branch. Cousin Neji really is a genius if was able to reproduce it on his own." Naruto decided the two Hyuga branches were an important detail to be filed away for later use.

Gaara had decided to continue with his offence and was attacking his opponent once again. It was the easiest solution he could come up with, Neji couldn't break through his automatic defense so eventually the Hyuga would run out of chakra and be unable to perform his own defensive shield.

Neji knew his situation was bad, he'd been so focused on taijutsu that he didn't have any ninjutsu attacks. He'd never thought that he'd face an opponent who he couldn't touch. He'd considered using a close ranged Kaiten to disperse the sand barrier, but discarded that idea. It would take him a moment to complete his rotation, and a moment was all that was needed for the sand shield to reform.

Gaara's sand closed in on him from all sides again and Neji was force defend with Kaiten for a third time. _My technique is perfect for deflecting weapons or knocking back an opponent, but against this free floating sand all it does is waste my chakra. If I don't win this fight soon then I'll be out of chakra after another four or five Kaiten._

Then something completely unexpected happened, a few bullets of sand hit the Hyuga in the back, and he hadn't even seen the attack coming. Neji quickly used his defense again to push away the projectiles, but his back was already bleeding, and he didn't know any medical jutsu which could heal himself. "It seems your eyes aren't perfect." The Hyuga glared at Gaara while he continued. "You have a small blind spot where you can't see behind you. It was the one angle where you didn't react quite as fast to my earlier attacks. Not only that, but that's the fourth time you've used your defensive maneuver, and it seems to use a large amount of chakra so I doubt you'll be able to use it many more times." The red head's eyes darkened as he added, "I'll make you suffer for what you said about failures."

"Why do you care about some girl who isn't even from your village." It was something that Neji had been wondering since the fight began, but hadn't been able to figure out. _Why does calling trash like her a failure rile him up so much._ "She's weak, it's how she was born, it's her destiny. Just like It's my destiny to be a slave to the Main Branch of the Hyuga family."

"A slave?" Gaara voiced the question of most of the students in the arena.

"Yes, the Cadet Branch of my family are marked with a seal which enslaves us. If we try to defy the Main Branch, then they can use the Caged Bird Seal to torture or kill us. That is my destiny, just like it was my father's destiny to be murdered to protect the head of the family."

Most of the genin looked at Hinata, wondering if such a thing was true and were surprised to find such a sad expression on her face. Neji went on to explain their family situation, Hinata's almost kidnapping, and the subsequent death of his own father. Naruto, had seen the anger in Neji's soul since the beginning, but he hadn't know what exactly had been the cause of it.

Gaara quietly listened to the entire story, and at the end of it his reply was simple. "You've lived a tough life, and your place in this world isn't easy. And, so what?" Neji and most of the spectators stared in shock at the sand manipulator's words. "From what you've said, Hinata doesn't have a good lot in life either, and neither have I. My mother died giving birth to me, and my own father wrote me off as a failure and tried to have me killed. So I don't care what crap you've had to deal with in your life, nobody has the right to call someone else worthless and decide if they should die. And the only destiny I believe in is the one you make for yourself."

"You don't understand anything!" The Hyuga genius rushed forward again, his mind clouded by anger. Gaara was prepared and once again launched a barrage of multidirectional sand bullets. Neji tried to counter with the Kaiten once again, but Gaara had prepared for it. The red-head, instead of letting the sand be pushed away, pulled it away and spun it with the defense. When the barrier dropped, the sand simply rushed in to take advantage of the momentary weakness. If Neji had been better trained, he might have been able to make successive Kaiten, but at his current sill level to took him a second to reactivate it. A second which he didn't have, the sand collided with his unprotected body, not only bruising but also cutting and breaking a few bones including one of his legs. When the sand flew away, the boy fell to the floor in a heap, unable to stand on his damaged leg.

Gaara stuck his hand out and sand covered Neji's right arm. "I always follow through with my threats." The black haired boy couldn't do anything to defend himself, without the rotation to push back the sand his shield wouldn't do much.

Just before the Sand nin could implode the arm, someone shouted, "Stop it!" Gaara looked up to the catwalks, but it hadn't been Naruto. Hinata Hyuga looked down to him, "Please don't do it."

"This is the same person who only a little while ago, said you were better off dead because you were a failure, and you want me to spare his arm?" Gaara was curious about this kindness of the girl.

"Y- Yes. Because I feel the same way as you. 'Nobody has the right to call someone else worthless and decide if they should die.' Not even you have the right to make decisions about another's worth, no matter how awful your life has been."

Gaara continued to stare at the girl in shock, but eventually looked down at his opponent and removed the sand from his arm. "You're cousin may not be strong, but she is kind. You should be grateful for that fact, because it just saved your shinobi carrier." He began to walk away and Hayate decided it was time to call the match.

"The winner of this round is Gaara."

Everyone was shocked by the turn of events, nobody, especially the remaining sand shinobi, had expected Gaara to go back on his word and leave Neji with both of his arms. Soon the medics had carted the Hyuga off to be treated, leaving the ring empty for the last round, Neither Sakura nor Ino waited for their names to come up, they knew they were the only ones who hadn't been called. Hayate soon announced, "The last round will now commence."

**(TBC)**

* * *

**A/N:** Hello everyone. I decided to Hybernate for the winter, but now I'm back and ready to write. This one time, I'll accept flames for my laziness so go ahead and yell if you want.

I'll be skipping over the Sakura Ino battle, it'll be the same except for one minor yet crucial detail. Then the training will begin.


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto nor any characters or abilities created by Masashi Kishimoto. Original characters, abilities and bloodlines in this story (there will be) are mine. If someone out there thinks an ability or character of mine is cool and wishes to use it, feel free. I only ask that you give me credit.

**Date:** 05/02/09

**Summary:** While running from an angry mob on his birthday, seven-year-old Naruto finds himself in a strange land where a shinobi turned priest offers to train him as a ninja. Naruto eventually discovers there is more to the world then just shinobi when he unlocks his spiritual power. Not a super Naruto fic (I hate those ones) but more of a smart and wise Naruto fic.

**Reviews:** Please review. I enjoy reviews, even if its only one or two words. I do not appreciate flames. If you don't like this story, its concept, or my writing style then don't read it. Don't read it then complain to me about it.

Spiritual Fox  
Chapter 21: Sakura's Training

The last fight had drug on and on, the two girls had been evenly matched. Their attacks had been fairly lame compared to the other battles, neither had any taijutsu beyond the academy taught nor did they have any specialized attacks or defense. However, the fight had to eventually end, and Sakura had won.

She'd been trapped in Ino's hair and the blond had been one sign away from launching her Mind Transfer technique, but the pink haired girl had launched her own genjutsu before Ino could finish. Yamanaka had been so distracted by the sight of her Sasuke being attacked that she'd lost control of her restraining jutsu, leaving Sakura free to deliver the final blow.

Now the finalists were standing before the Hokage and learning about the true reasons for the Chunin Exam, as well as deciding the match-ups for the third exam. From the Lots that had been drawn, the final tournament was as follows:

**Sakura Haurno vs. Makoto Kunosaki**

**Haruko Ryuuza vs. Sasuke Uchiha**

**Shikamaru Nara vs. Naruto Uzumaki**

**Kankuro vs. Shino Aburame**

**Satu Mihama vs. Gaara**

The winner of the last bracket would fight one less round then the others, battling the victor of the second round's second match.

Everyone was sizing up their opponents, Sakura knew that Makoto had a much wider range of genjutsu then Ino did, and he was twice as fast in casting it. Sasuke didn't know much about Haruko beyond the few fire jutsu he'd seen and his annoying personality that popped up during his free time. Both Shikamaru and Naruto knew that the Shadow Clone technique gave Naruto a definite edge against the Shadow Possession technique, but Shika knew of another family jutsu which could help, he'd just have to get the energy to ask his father about it. _Naruto will never forgive me if he doesn't get a good fight out of me._

Kankuro knew that chakra consuming bugs would probably eat his chakra stings fairly easily, Shino himself wasn't too worried. Satu was wondering just how easily his sword would cut through Gaara's sand shield, which was what the Sand Genin was wondering as well.

"The fights will take place in one month," ended the Hokage. "Train, rest, and make your villages proud." With a nod, the Genin began leaving the arena and were followed by their jonin instructors. Sarutobi let his eyes follow Naruto out of the building, wondering about the enigma the blond had become. _He knew about Orochimaru's infiltration before even Anko, and that taijutsu of his… just what other abilities are you and that Yoshi fellow hiding._

* * *

Kakashi had walked his students back to the village, he was pleased that they'd all passed the exam, but he'd by no means expected it to happen. If they were all going to compete, they'd all need specialized one on one training and while Kakashi knew one tutor who was free, he didn't know where to find the second for Sakura. It would take a few favors to get someone who could train her in genjutsu for her match against Makoto.

Putting his book away, the Cyclops turned to his team with a smile. "All right team, you've all done beautifully to make it this far in the exam, especially since its your first try. You've got a month to prepare for your next fight, rest up tonight and we'll meet tomorrow on the bridge at 9 O'clock. From there, I'll give you your training schedules." His student's nodded and began to walk away, then Naruto began to run and jump around while shouting his joy to the world. His teammates had the same thought, _How the hell could he take Lee's beating then have this kind of energy to spare?_

* * *

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke couldn't believe what they saw the next day as they walked up to the bridge, Kakashi was reading his orange book, waiting for his team to show up. They all stared, completely dumbfounded at the unprecedented turn of events. None of them could believe their eye's, not even Naruto with his Spirit Sense. Sakura was the first to react, "Who are you, and what have you done with our teacher!?"

Kakashi simply put his book away and smiled at his students. "What do you mean, I don't always get lost on the road to life." It was just too fun to throw his students off guard and watch their reactions. _Now they'd never know what to expect from me, will I be early or will I be late._ "Anyways, its good to see everyone here on time, now we can begin to train." The absurdity that their consistently late teacher was complimenting them for being prompt wasn't lost on any of the genin. "To better prepare you all for your matches, I've arranged for individual instructors to teach you. Sasuke, I'll be working with you to help you develop your Sharingan." Both Naruto and Sakura seemed to be peeved about that, so Kakashi quickly told the others about their training. "Naruto, your instructor is waiting for you at the hot springs. You're chakra control is still lacking, so he'll be teaching a few control lessons among other things." Naruto glared at his instructor for a few seconds before softening his expression and nodding. "Don't worry, the jonin I got for you is a much more qualified teacher then I am. And Sakura, I was worried about finding someone who could train you in genjutsu, but someone actually came forward and offered to teach you. I'll admit that I've never actually met the man myself but from what I've heard he's an excellent teacher, probably even better the one I got for Naruto. He's currently waiting for you at training grounds 7."

Sakura nodded, though she still didn't like being pawned off, if her teacher really was that good then she guessed she could forgive Kakashi. "If there are no questions, then I'll be taking Sasuke with me. I look forward to seeing how you improve in the next month."

With a nod, Naruto left after saying, "Sasuke, Sakura, later." He was desperately hoping for someone strong to teach him, _And for once in my life I don't want to be taught by a pervert._

Sakura began her trek to their usual training grounds, wondering just what kind of teacher had offered to train her for a month, and Kakashi began walking off with Sasuke while discussing their training schedule.

* * *

Naruto should have know it was a little too much to ask for. Perverts seemed to infest the world, if they didn't those damn Icha Icha books wouldn't be best sellers. However, he wouldn't have guessed his new teacher would be that Closet Perv sensei of Konohamaru. Despite being a pervert, he was actually a good instructor, or at least he **had** been a good instructor until he got knocked out by the self proclaimed Mega Perv, Jiraiya. Then Naruto had a new, even more perverted teacher. _Is every sensei in the entire world completely depraved?_

* * *

Whistling was the first thing she heard when Sakura entered the training grounds, followed by a brief sense of vertigo. She quickly passed it off as a case of pre-meeting jitters and followed the music into the trees. It was only a small walk until she came upon a clearing containing a strangely dressed man sitting cross-legged. He had light brown hair and was wearing a strange kind of robe, not at all what Sakura was expecting her new teacher to look like. The man suddenly stopped whistling and the man looked at her, "So, you are Sakura Haruno, correct?" The girl simply nodded and waited for the man to introduce himself. "My name is Yoshi Ichihara, and I'll be the one to instruct you for the next month.

To say that Sakura was stunned was an understatement. _Yoshi Ichihara. __**Yoshi Ichihara!**_"Wait, the same Yoshi who trained Naruto?"

With a smile, the priest remembered his time with Naruto. "Yes, I taught him the basics of Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and trained him in his Taijutsu. Now, I'll be training you in advanced use and defense of Genjutsu. You'll also need to become more powerful physically, so our training will cover that as well."

"Wait." The situation was just too confusing for Sakura. "Shouldn't you be training Naruto? He'll be thrilled to see you again, and it would be easier for him to learn from someone he's familiar with."

Yoshi closed his eyes and continued to smile before replying. "Yes, those are all valuable points, but there is one crucial point which you are missing. The thing I want most for Naruto is for him to grow, and the best way for a person to grow is to meet people. When people meet and interact with each other, they begin to change. They learn about each other and can grow to care for one another. The more people Naruto interacts with others the more he'll mature, and those he interacts with will grow as well." The man paused for a moment before continuing with a sigh. "Though I doubt that little hellion will ever fully mature. He'll probably act like a brat for the rest of his life."

That brought a smile to Sakura's face. There were some times when Naruto could be mature, but he mainly acted like a small child. "In any event, when I found out Naruto's teammate needed instructing, I decided to help him in a different way." It had taken a little bit of persuading with the Hokage, but he'd eventually agreed if they had three ANBU shadowing them constantly. "Now, what do you know about Genjutsu?"

Sakura drew a breath and began to recite what she's learned about the subject, "It's an advanced intellectual ninja technique. You take control of your opponent's chakra, and in turn their five senses, to make them see and hear and feel things which aren't really there. An advanced genjutsu user can cast them without any hand seals, making them extremely powerful opponents even when restrained."

Nodding, Yoshi replied, "A perfect description, memorized from a textbook. Next, tell me how much experience do you have with genjutsu, both casting and being trapped."

Sakura blushed slightly, "Not much. Kakashi used one on me during our genin exam, then gave me a scroll so I could use that same genjutsu which I've used twice on people."

"In other words, your real life experience with illusions is non-existent, and that's what we're going to remedy." Getting up, the priest continued. "Genjutsu is all about control, when you cast a genjutsu on someone, you are actually controlling their chakra with your own. It's very difficult to avoid being caught in a genjutsu, but once you know you're caught all you need to do is disrupt your own chakra flow in order to break free." Sakura nodded, she remembered that from reading books. "I've been told that you're chakra control is near perfect, so stopping your flow won't be an issue. What you need training in is recognizing genjutsu, as well as keeping your cool in stressful situations. If you can keep your head and recognize you're in an illusion then you'll have no problem breaking free."

"But it's easy to tell when you're in an illusion." Sure, she'd panicked when Kakashi used his genjutsu on her, but she had more experience now.

"Really," Then the man in front of Sakura began to dissolve into sand within seconds she was alone in the clearing. Then a voice came from no where, "Because you couldn't tell that I trapped you since you first walked into the training grounds." Sakura was shocked, and her surprise continued as the landscape around began to dissolve, first starting with the trees then continuing down to the ground. Sakura began to panic, but quickly got a hold of herself and performed a Kai Release.

The girl found herself back at the entrance to the training grounds, right where she'd first heard Yoshi's whistling. Soon, Yoshi walked out of the trees with a grin on his face. "Well done Sakura, that was one of my best genjutsu and you still broke out of it, but you'll still have to do better. If I had been an enemy ninja I could have kept you trapped in my jutsu for as long as I wanted, and you may never have known." His face no longer held a smile as he continued his lecture. "I could have killed you, or at worst tortured you with in the genjutsu until I broke your mind and forced you to tell me any secrets you knew."

Sakura knew the man was right. He had kept his genjutsu completely realistic, she'd completely believed his illusion. Her body had been left unguarded, if it had been a mission someone could have carried her off and she would never have known until it was too late. Soon, the priest continued, "Luckily, you have the ability to free yourself from genjutsu. It took Naruto a month to gain the ability to do that, and he still couldn't break free of a high level genjutsu. What you truly need training in is knowing when genjutsu is being used on you, as well as increasing your stamina and physical strength. I'll also be teaching you how to cast genjutsu as well."

The man walked up to Sakura then passed her to leave the training grounds. Sakura quickly followed, "Yoshi-sensei, where exactly are we going?" They were already at the training grounds, but now she wondered where exactly they were headed next. _Maybe to get something to eat._

"This was simply a familiar place to meet you, we'll be training slightly outside of Konoha where there's plenty of game to hunt." Sakura stared at the back of her new teacher as they walked, hoping he wasn't going to say what she thought he was going to say. "We'll be living out in the wilderness for a month to train. Also, I don't train people for free so as payment you'll be catching and cooking all the food for both of us."

Sakura was slightly down hearted at hearing that, but she figured it was a fair trade. Suddenly, she heard a low whistle coming from Yoshi and soon everything was silent. When she looked around, the street was empty, there didn't seem to be anyone in the entire city. The young kunoichi, quickly disrupted her chakra and once again the people were back where they should be. Yoshi was looking back at the young woman with a smile on his face, "Ready to continue?" Sakura knew that he'd be using genjutsu on her a lot more in the coming month.

* * *

It was finally dark out, and Sakura just couldn't believe the physical workout she'd just gone through. Yoshi had lead them to a small lake outside of Konoha that she knew of and told her they were going to camp there for the entire month with only the cloths on their back. The priest had introduced her to the water walking exercise, to better her control and test her chakra capacity. After that, he had her doing pushups, sit ups and sprinting until she couldn't move any more. Then the sadistic bastard had sent her exhausted body out to catch lunch, consisting of two rabbits and a some berries and leaves she knew to be edible. After lunch, the two of them sparred until Sakura collapsed from a mixture of pain and fatigue.

Yoshi finally left her alone to rest until dinner, made from the remaining rabbit that was left mixed into a stew. After dinner, she was forced to swim back and fourth through the lake until she thought she couldn't swim any more, then the trainer from hell told her to do one more for a total of 27 laps to help with her endurance.

And through out the entire day he'd been using genjutsu on her. He was relentless; during water walking, conditioning, sparing, even during swimming and meals, it never ended. However, she had learned two very important facts because those continual assaults. One, because a genjutsu needed to be cast on a person they needed to either see or hear their opponent to be captured. The second fact was the most important, there was always a moment of disorientation when a genjutsu was being cast on someone and it was the key to knowing when one was in an illusion. Whenever the priest made a strange gestured or whistled and she fest strange, she knew it was a genjutsu and she performed Kai release. The real trouble was recognizing it when she was exhausted, she barely had the energy to keep her head up let alone know that she was dizzy and free herself.

She also learned that the higher level the genjutsu, the shorter period of confusion. The lowest level that Yoshi used caused Sakura to be dizzy for a few seconds, while the highest the man used was near unnoticeable. She suspected it also depended on the ability of the caster, but aside from the low level genjutsu Kakashi had used on her, she had no real experience against illusionists.

Looking back on her first day, Sakura decided she'd already learned a lot from her new teacher. She could honestly say that though he was a task master, he knew what he was doing and she was lucky to have him as her teacher. _What I really can't believe is that Naruto had him as his teacher for four years and he did so poorly at the Academy. He either really is a moron or…_ Sakura sat up from her laying position. _Or he's been holding back since the beginning._ The more she thought about it, the more it seemed to be a possibility. _His speed and strength during those real fights, as well as his shuriken and kunai handling were all above what he showed in school. His range of ninjutsu and their use as well is a lot better. And Yoshi himself said Naruto already knew how to break free of at least mid level genjutsu._

Eventually, Sakura laid back down and tried to sleep. _There's nothing I can do about it now, I just need to rest up for tomorrow._ Yoshi left earlier, saying he had some important business in the village and wouldn't be back until the morning. He'd promised more physical training, as well as some instruction in genjutsu instead of sparing. _And he swore he wouldn't try to use genjutsu on me after I went to bed so that's one positive thing._ With that, Sakura went to sleep both excited about and dreading the next day.

* * *

All in all, Naruto thought his day could have gone worse. This Jiraiya guy was a pervert, but he did seem really strong. He also knew about the Kyuubi, and was trying to help him learn to draw on it's powers to make him stronger. Not to mention the summoning contract he'd gotten, frogs seemed like a good summons. Even with his chakra levels he couldn't produce a top level summons but he was close to it. The problem was that doing so took all of his chakra, not even close to ideal during fights. He'd either have to learn how to use the fox's chakra at will, or increase his already huge reserves. Naruto decided that doing both was preferable.

A sudden rustling of nearby leaves caused Naruto to have a few shuriken ready as he shot up from his makeshift bed. He reached out with his Sight, but couldn't find anything suspicious. The Ero-sennin was back peeping on women and their night time baths, leaving him alone for the night. Naruto had tried to keep the promise he'd made to himself all those years ago, but Jiraiya refused to let himself be beaten senseless just because he was an author. He had enough of that coming from Tsunade and he didn't need or want some kid repeating the feat.

Naruto looked around for some sign on an intruder, but the only new thing he saw were two scrolls sticking out of the bushes. He retrieved them and began to read, then he knew just who had left those scrolls. They were jutsu scrolls a light technique and a dark one, the only one who could possible leave such scrolls was Yoshi. The Jinchuriki frowned slightly, _I wonder why he didn't even say 'hi'. He must have his reasons but it still would have been nice._ Naruto read through the scrolls and began to drool, _I guess this is just as good as a hello. The Light jutsu is a ranged attack and the Dark is a defense. And because they use Spirit Chakra they can't be copied, this is gonna be sweet._ Naruto began to cackle, and decided to hide this from his new teacher. He really didn't want to explain Spirit Chakra to a bunch of people.

* * *

Sakura awoke with a start, she didn't know what it was exactly but there was something dangerous near by. She'd been in too many deadly situations to simply write off a feeling like this. She got out of her blanket (provided by Yoshi, Sakura was now determined to learn storage seals so she would have survival gear on her at all times) and prepared a few kunai before the danger struck.

It was a lone ninja, a powerful one at that. Covered from head to toe in black, the only things which shined in the moonlight were his eyes and his Sound Headband. Sakura was momentarily paralyzed by the man's killer intent, but was still able to shake it off quickly. It wasn't nearly as powerful as Orochimaru's and she'd been in too many deadly fights to do nothing. The sound nin through a handful of shuriken at the genin, and Sakura was only just able to complete the replacement jutsu in time. And she knew from that one attack, she was completely out matched. There was no hope of someone that skilled being taken down by a lone girl who was only half trained. As soon as she replaced herself, she ran as fast and silent as possible toward Konoha. _It's my only chance, to get close enough to the village to get reinforcements. Maybe I'll run into Yoshi-sensei on my way back too._

Her hope didn't pan out too well. Soon enough, she heard the sounds of pursuit and shuriken being thrown. She dodged, but still got the side of her arm grazed by the projectiles. She tired to counter with her daggers, but the sound ninja was able to dodge them with little effort. Despite the interruptions, Sakura still ran to the village while focusing her chakra into her legs. The genin's small amount of sleep had done wonders for her stamina level.

Soon enough, Sakura was forced into a close ranged fight, but she couldn't hope to have put up something more then a token struggle. The sound ninja soon had Sakura tied up in wire, a gag in her mouth and a knife to her throat. The girl tired to lurch herself forward, ready to kill herself then be a hostage for her team or be tortured. That was a futile attempt, the abductor wasn't about to let his new victim kill herself. As soon as Sakura proved she wasn't afraid of dying, the knife disappeared and she began to struggle in earnest, kicking and heaving, trying absolutely anything to free herself.

Then something happened which caused the pink-haired girl to go absolutely stiff, her attacker spoke out loud. "Not bad."

Suddenly the gag was out of her mouth and the restraining wire was gone as well, she didn't run this time, she simply turned and stared wide eyed at the man who was standing before her. "Y-Yoshi-sensei?!" She almost screamed the a poof of smoke, the black attire was gone and the smiling priest was back in his robes. "You did much better then I though you would, Sakura. Though you have had a few deadly encounters and surprise attacks, so I guess it would make sense."

"What… what's going on?" The genin's mind was working overtime, trying to figure out what was happening. She already had an idea, but she was waiting for it to come from the horse's mouth.

"This was a test, Sakura. I wanted to see how you'd react to a deadly attack if you were by yourself." The girl began to glare at her new teacher. "And I'll tell you right off that you pass with flying colors. Despite being under that amount of killing intent, you kept yourself calm and accurately assessed the situation. You knew you didn't stand a chance at fighting so you tried to escape. Furthermore, you didn't randomly run away, but tried to get close to the village and get reinforcements." Yoshi's continual praise was helping to ease Sakura's anger, but she was still angry.

"Did you ever do stuff like this to Naruto?" Sakura was bending down to dress her wounds, and found them to be superficial cuts at best.

"Once or twice." The priest's smiled widened as he reminisced. "It's not something that can be done very often. The fear of the unknown attacker plays a major role in this type of test. And if you do it too often, then the student usually can't tell the difference between a real attack and a mock attack. So don't worry Sakura, I won't be doing this again during the next month." The girl sighed a breath of relief at that. She actually like to sleep with both eyes closed. "But don't think that it's going to be easy. We'll be doing the same physical training we did yesterday, everyday to increase your speed, strength, and endurance. We'll alternate between sparing and genjutsu practice, and we'll take a break from training every Sunday."

Sakura couldn't believe her ears, she'd never worked that hard all day, ever. And here was her new teacher telling her that they'd be keeping that pace for a month?! "There's no way I could do that everyday."

Yoshi looked at her like she'd just made some weird joke. "Oh, Sakura, of course your not going to do what you _just_ did every day." The genin sighed a breath of relief. "You're going to work harder." She choked on her breath. "If you want to have any chance of beating your opponent next round, you'll have to become much more powerful. The only way to reliably do that is to push your body past it's limits, and keep pushing them every time you train." Seeing the stricken look on her face, Yoshi tried to put her mind at ease. "I'm not going to hurt you Sakura, I'm only trying to increase your potential. The best way to do that is to find your limits and push you past them little by little. It's the best and safest way to become stronger."

Sakura didn't know how true that was, but she did know that she had agreed to this training and she didn't want to back out now. Yoshi could see that his knew student didn't really have much confidence, but he knew better then to try and force it on her. Weight training didn't usually help women all that often, but they could gain impressive speed, stamina, and chakra control, well making up for deficiencies in strength. "In any event, let's got back to camp and get some rest. You'll need all the rest you can get for your training."

* * *

Sarutobi sat in his office, wondering if he'd made the wrong choice again. Jiraiya had popped up and taken over Naruto's training, that he had no problem with. It was the ever mysterious Yoshi character who he had misgivings about. Even with the splendid job he had of training Naruto, the man was still an outsider. The Hokage _still_ couldn't figure out how the man had know Sakura had passed the chunin exam, or that Kakashi was going to find individual instructors for his students. Why he'd wanted to train the girl in the first place was an even bigger mystery, and how he'd gotten into the village without alerting security was driving him up the walls.

He hadn't been able to wring any information out of Yoshi at all. Somehow, Sarutobi knew that even their strongest fighters would lose to the priest so he hadn't bothered. Things would be different if the man was a threat, he'd go after the priest himself if need be, but he just seemed interested in meddling. Making his shinobi stronger was a case of helping the village, not harming it. There were still two points which Sarutobi was trying to figure out, mainly Yoshi's history with the First Hokage and the priest's intensions in general. The easiest solution would be that the man had trained under the first Hokage, but the man nor his brother had ever mentioned such an apprentice. And the priest himself refused to answer such questions, even after the Hokage had threatened to not give him permission to train Sakura.

Yoshi had just laughed and said he was only offering because he was bored, not because he _needed_ to train anybody. After that, Sarutobi had agreed to let the girl be trained, only if a few ANBU would be able to watch them at all times. Yoshi had readily agreed, and he seemed to know what game the Hokage was playing. Sakura got to be trained without having to devote any village resources to her, and by keeping Yoshi close by he might slip and reveal information. Either way, the old man won.

The priest also needed to submit his training schedule for the Hokage's approval, but there hadn't been debate about that either. And the old Hokage couldn't find anything suspicious about the agenda, even if it did look overwhelming. The ANBU knew the plan as well and would alert him if Yoshi made any changes. All Sarutobi could hope to do now was pray he wasn't making another mistake.

**(TBC)**

* * *

**A/N:** Yes, I don't think anyone has ever had Sakura win her fight against Ino, or if they've varied the Chunin Exam they haven't had her win against anyone. Just think of it as another twist for my already out there story.

Not much Naruto in this chapter, but his training was the same as the training he got in Cannon so it wasn't worth going into detail. Since Sakura made it to the third exam, I figured she needed more training then anyone. And another appearance by the mysterious Yoshi, his past will be reveled in my next original story arc, but its going to be a long one.

All right, as of now I'm back in the game, so I won't accept flames anymore. Luckily nobody flamed me in the first place so its all good. See you next time.


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto nor any characters or abilities created by Masashi Kishimoto. Original characters, abilities and bloodlines in this story (there will be) are mine. If someone out there thinks an ability or character of mine is cool and wishes to use it, feel free. I only ask that you give me credit.

**Date:** 05/18/09

**Summary:** While running from an angry mob on his birthday, seven-year-old Naruto finds himself in a strange land where a shinobi turned priest offers to train him as a ninja. Naruto eventually discovers there is more to the world then just shinobi when he unlocks his spiritual power. Not a super Naruto fic (I hate those ones) but more of a smart and wise Naruto fic.

**Reviews:** Please review. I enjoy reviews, even if its only one or two words. I do not appreciate flames. If you don't like this story, its concept, or my writing style then don't read it. Don't read it then complain to me about it.

Spiritual Fox  
Chapter 22: The Third Exam Begins

It was the day before the Chunin exams and Yoshi had ended his training sessions with Sakura, and the girl didn't know whether she was happy or sad. She'd never gotten this kind of training from anyone before, Kakashi only gave general advice and the academy had all been classes of students. Her parents hadn't been shinobi so the pink haired girl never had even at home instruction, so actually having someone focusing solely on her was a welcome experience. However, she could safely say that she'd be happy to be free from someone who constantly kept her body aching six days a week. Catching her own food, cooking it, never seeing her family at all, those were things Sakura wouldn't miss at all.

It wasn't that Sakura didn't understand where Yoshi was coming from, if she kept constantly pushing herself, she grow little by little. It was a simple yet effective training procedure, one which would pay off in the long run. In fact, the training was already paying off. The young genin's speed and strength had increased tremendously, her endurance had sky rocketed. He'd also improved her genjutsu and had even given her a few more genjutsu scrolls (gotten from the Konoha library).

Sakura's genjutsu defense had advanced to an entirely new level as well, and Yoshi had been pleased with her discovery. After a week of training, Sakura discovered that she didn't need Kai release in order to break genjutsu. With her perfect control, Sakura discovered she could slightly disturb her own chakra to break a genjutsu while it was being cast on her. If she became trapped within a jutsu, she still needed a full Kai Release, but after three weeks of Yoshi's genjutsu it had become a reflex to disrupt her chakra flow immediately if she felt dizzy.

Now she had the day off to rest and prepare for the exam, after a month of training Sakura was going to see her family and sleep in a bed. Needless to say, the girl was looking forward to it.

* * *

It was getting dark, and Naruto was looking forward to being in his apartment after a month of training. He'd slept outdoors many times before, but getting to go back to a bed was one of the things he looked forward to the most. Well, that and ramen. _Ah, ramen. Wait for me oh food of the divine._

The blond had spent much of his time trying to tap into the Kyuubi's power, he'd done it by accident before when he was angry but that had turned him into a berserker. Jiraiya had told him quite clearly that he needed to control the power, not just use it, and to his own surprise he'd slightly accomplished the task. Perhaps it was because of all his spirit training, but during the third week of training he'd finally summoned the fox's power through his own will and found the demonic energy had many uses. It boosted his speed and strength, gave him near instant regeneration, and provided him with a boatload of chakra to use, chakra which he could forge into Spirit Chakra if he wanted. Yet despite the obvious benefits Naruto had confused his teacher by vowing to never use the power unless it was a life or death emergency. Even the boy couldn't truly describe it, but it just felt _wrong_ to use the foreign power.

It was because of his Spirit Sense that he knew the truth, the demonic power was filled with malice and darkness. It was something which only wanted to cause pain and destruction. It was not a force which saved people but one which destroyed and killed the enemy and Naruto felt that if he used that power too often, it could easily corrupt his soul. Jiraiya half understood, but he wasn't completely convinced. _That's probably one of the things that separates priests from ninja, I can feel the evil in that thing with my spirit sense while the ninja just sees it as a powerful source of energy._

Beyond tapping the Kyuubi's power, Jiraiya had also shown him different toads he could summon and most of their basic skills, as well as giving him a few chakra building exercises to help him reach a boss summon faster. Then there were the two Sprit Jutsu which Yoshi had left him, Naruto had trained those in secret while his new teacher was busy with his "research". Those jutsu had been easy to learn, but tough to master. He needed more training, but his handling was much better then it was before.

Naruto could feel the person waiting in his apartment, so he wasn't surprised when he opened the door to find Gaara waiting for him with some tea ready. "Long time no see, Naruto."

"Hey Gaara." Naruto looked around and saw that someone had been cleaning his apartment while he was away. "Were you the one who kept this place tidy?" The red head nodded. "Thanks. That's one less thing for me to do."

"It's been something to do when I don't train, and someplace to hide in when Temari begins her rants." The sand jinchuriki sat down at the table and poured the tea and Naruto joined him after putting another pot of water to boil for his instant ramen. He noted that while Gaara may have been cleaning his place, he hadn't been eating his food.

"You're sister's still mad about losing to Haruko, huh?"

The sand genin sighed, "She's getting better every day, but if anyone mentions flames or the name 'Haru' then that usually sets her off. If I see one of those spandex wearing guys coming, then I know to find some excuse to bolt. Lee's doing better by the way." Naruto had been wondering about that but the Ero-sennin didn't know anything about it. "He's angry at his teacher for interfering with his fight, but when I saw him at the hospital he seemed understanding. What about you?"

Naruto began his own tail about his month, leaving out the important details of course. How his teacher had gotten him his own tutor, how his personal tutor had seemed good until someone even more powerful then him had knocked him out with one hit.

Then Naruto went on into the tail of Jiraiya, how he was the author of the damn Icha Icha books (It turned out they were popular everywhere. Kankuro was a fan as well and he loved to read them on his spare time, but Gaara hadn't seemed that interested in the books himself) and the training he'd put Naruto through (Naruto purposefully glossed over that part not telling Gaara what type of training he'd endured). Then there were the two special scrolls which Naruto had practiced in secret, Gaara had never herd of Light and Dark techniques so Naruto decided to explain Spirit Chakra. The Sand Genin was a good sport about the abridged version of Naruto's monthly story. Even if they were friends, they were still opponents in the chunin exam and it wouldn't be good to tell your eventual opponents all of your secrets before the fight.

While they'd been talking, the pot on Naruto's stove had whistled and the blond prepared four cups of instant ramen, Gaara was slightly touched by the blond's thoughtfulness and was about to decline the food when Naruto looked at him and remembered his manners, "Oh yah, did you want any ramen too Gaara?"

The red head was slightly dumbfounded, "You mean those four cups are for yourself?"

"Of course." The look Naruto gave him was completely serious. "There's no way one cup of instant ramen is going to fill me up. Plus I've been deprived of my ramen for a month, so I'm having one more then I usually do." The Leaf Genin was confused by Gaara's own bewilderment, but didn't comment further.

Eventually there came a reply, "No thanks, I already ate."

With a shrug, Naruto went back to chitchatting while the ramen cooked, Gaara figured that his friend had some internal clock set for three minutes because he didn't have a regular timer anywhere near by and he never once looked at a clock to check the time. After three minutes exactly, Naruto cut off the conversation and began shoveling ramen into his mouth as fast as possible. Gaara watched with morbid fascination as the blond seemed to inhale the noodles, not even taking time to chew properly.

After he was done, Naruto sat back in his chair and patted his stomach, "Oh, man, that tasted great!"

"You could actually taste when eating at that speed?"

A thumbs up was the blond's reply, "It's an acquired ability." Naruto got up and stretched. "All right, I need to shower and change out of these cloths. Do you mind waiting for a little bit?" The red head replied in the negative, so Naruto went to shower and change his cloths. When he came back, the blond found Gaara meditating in his living room. It was a different meditation then the one Naruto did, he could tell that it did nothing for training his spirit power. The leaf genin decided to enquire, "Did Yoshi-sensei teach you that?"

The other boy didn't answer right away, but he eventually replied. "Yes. It's a special technique to help me rest my mind as if I were asleep." Naruto looked at him expectantly, so he decided to go into further details. "My demon doesn't let me sleep. If I try, Shukaku will begin to consume my mind. The lack of sleep left me very unstable. When Yoshi found out about my condition, the taught me this meditation exercise which lets me rest my mind as if it slept without actually sleeping. It's helped stabilize me immensely."

Naruto didn't know how to respond to that. The Kyuubi had made his life hell, but at least he could still sleep and dream. It just seemed to re-enforce his opinion that demons could only cause harm to the world, and that they shouldn't be in humans at all. Instead of talking more about demons, Naruto decided to switch the topics to more mundane things, favorite foods, books, hobbies, and people. Gaara's list was short, not having much of a life beyond a killer before the last year, but Naruto didn't care and told him he'd have plenty of time to discover stuff like that later.

Looking up at the time, the Leaf nin decided to call it a night. "I think we both need to get our rest for tomorrows fights." Gaara nodded, he usually used his meditation rest while everyone else slept, but he couldn't stay at the home of a leaf shinobi without causing problems.

"Then I'll see you tomorrow. Good luck Naruto, I hope I get to fight you in the finals." Gaara left while Naruto waved after him. Getting into bed, the boy sighed in content and hoped that everything would go smoothly the next day.

* * *

Kabuto walked up to his master, wondering how he was going to react to his report.

The Snake Sennin stared at his subordinate, not at all liking the look on his face. It was clearly one of failure, "Have you tracked down that traitor Zaku yet?"

The medic nin looked down at the ground, he didn't want to give this man bad news but he didn't have much of a choice. "No sir. His trail went cold in the forest between Fire and River countries. I'm not sure how he did it, but he just seemed to vanish."

Looking around the room, the snake wasn't too concerned about the missing nin. "He was trash in the first place, so don't waste any more effort in finding him. If my informants learn something about him, then I'll send someone to kill him and whoever he's with. Right now you should be focusing on the invasion and helping with preparations."

"Yes sir." Kabuto disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving Orochimaru alone. _Soon. Soon I'll have my revenge on this village. Soon this place will be dust under my feet._

* * *

Looking down at Jiraiya's report, the third Hokage sighed. "Sorry I don't have much else to report, sensei. Orochimaru has been very secretive about his current plans, the only thing I know for certain is that it's probably an attack, and that it'll happen tomorrow during the exam. I don't know how large his forces are, or if they're allied with the Sand village."

"At the very least, he's approached the Kazekage and had him agree to be a neutral party. He wouldn't risk attacking us if we had a potential ally. At worst, the Sand Village will assist Orochimaru. Lately the Wind Daimo's been making requests from our village so it could be they want to eliminate their rivals." Sarutobi sighed once again, he'd told the Wind Daimo many times that he shouldn't be making requests from outside villages but the man just hadn't listened. "On another note, how did you enjoy train Naruto."

"I already have Tsunade trying to beat me to death because of my novels, it wasn't exactly a good experience to have your new student trying to do the same thing." Jiraiya grimaced as he remembered the near constant attacks. "Those first few day, the only thing Naruto did was try sneak attacks on me. Apparently, that Yoshi guy likes my books too and the brat made a vow to punish whoever wrote the stuff. However, after we got past that road block he became an excellent student. The brat knows how to focus and he listened once he knew I was a good teacher.

"He also has some special skill to sense where people are, but it's not a chakra sense." Sarutobi stared at his former student, waiting for him to elaborate. "He was practicing a couple of special jutsu when he was alone, and he knew when **I** was around and watching him but he wasn't able to detect my Shadow Clone. It seemed like a useful trait, probably something that priest taught him."

"Speaking of Yoshi, have you been able to find out anything about him?" When Naruto had first disappeared and the Hokage couldn't find anything about the mysterious priest, he'd asked Jiraiya to look into the matter and told him to report if he found anything regarding Yoshi's past. However, the toad sage had never followed through on the report.

"Not much." Jiraiya himself was frustrated by his lack of information. "There were one or two incidents of someone matching his description buying supplies from various villages, but none of them were closely related by geography. Lately, however, there have been various reports of the man wandering from place to place and offering assistance to people usually for food or shelter in exchange. He spent a long time in Sunagakure but he didn't seem to do much there, and he even did something to anger the Kazekage. As for his origins and the place where he trained Naruto, I wasn't able to find anything info at all."

Sarutobi nodded, Naruto had told him Yoshi planned to wander for a time after the boy rejoined the village, so that part made sense. "In any event, keep your focus on Orochimaru. Yoshi may be a concern, but has yet to be labeled as a threat. So far he has only done things which have helped us, but we still don't know if he has any other objectives."

With a nod, Jiraiya left determined to meet Yoshi Ichihara in person soon. He always liked to meet his fans.

* * *

The next day was met with clear skies along with a excited buzz among the villagers. It was the promised day in Konoha, the day of the chunin exam. The Konoha residents were beaming with pride, not only to have the exam in their village this year but the vast majority of finalists were Konoha shinobi. The even better part was that some of the ninja had only been out of the academy for less then a year, showing everyone just how skilled their ninja were, even if one of those finalists had been the Demon Brat.

Naruto walked closer to the village arena, wondering just how all the matches would turn out. _Sakura would have needed an extremely good teacher to get her ready for her match, Kazuma has hinted at just how powerful his brother is, and my clones may trump Shikamaru's shadow possession, but I'm sure he's thought of something. I'm almost positive Shika's a genius, he never loses strategy games and he passed the academy without taking a single note._

The blond's thoughts were interrupted by the approach of one of his teammates, Sakura to be exact. The strange part was that while Naruto knew the presence was his pink haired colleague, it was also vastly different from the Sakura that Naruto knew. He turned to his friend, "Hey Sakura, you ready for kunoichi debut? It looks like solo training did wonders for you." Naruto meant every word of it, the girl looked a lot tougher then she'd been before. Not only that, this new Sakura radiated confidence, someone had taught the young woman to believe in her abilities.

She scratched her head while smiling, "Well, I had a tough instructor."

"Who-" Naruto's question was cut off as a gentle whistle washed over the pair, trying to trap them in a genjutsu. Sakura immediately disturbed her chakra, after two weeks of that whistle her reflexes were still sharp, while Naruto found he no longer needed to use Kai Release to free himself from the jutsu.

"Still sharp Sakura, and I see you've found another advantage of your Spirit Sight, Naruto."

The young ninja turned around and found his first teacher staring at him in the flesh. He was the same as when Naruto first left him and the boy's eyes began to water (it dimly registered in the back of his mind that he hadn't sensed the priest's approach, but he still wasn't concerned. Yoshi was a priest so he probably knew a few tricks). "Yoshi-Sensei!!" In an instant he'd flung himself at his teacher and had tackled the older man to the ground. "I missed you!! I know you've been here for a month, so why haven't you visited at all?"

With his usual smile in place, Yoshi patted the boy's head, "Because I've been too busy teaching your friend."

Naruto looked at the brunet for a moment, then his gaze slowly turned to Sakura who was holding out her hand in a victory sign. Then the boy began quickly swinging his eyes between the two of them before focusing the priest. "You're the one Kakashi found to train Sakura?" They both nodded. "Traitor! I thought I was suppose to be your student!"

The boy was mad, horribly mad. Even Sakura could tell her teammate felt they'd both betrayed him somehow. Probably that Yoshi had been his teacher alone, but now they shared him. "Now, now little Naru, no need to get upset. I just showed Sakura how to push herself and advanced ways to break Genjutsu, I trained you in the basics of ninjutsu and the basics are always the most important. Besides, you have me as a teacher for four years, she only had me for a month."

Naruto thought for a moment, then gave Yoshi a pointed look. "I guess I'll forgive you. It is the first time I've seen you in a while." He gave his old mentor another hug before letting the man get up from the ground. "So, you're here to watch the Chunin Exam, right?"

Sakura began walking with the two men as they began to chat before she remembered something Yoshi had said. "Sensei, what did you mean before about Spirit Sense and Genjutsu?"

The man went into lecture mode as they walked, "You are aware that Naruto has gained an ability which lets him sense people, right?" A nod followed. She remembered Naruto's display in the forest of death. "That skill is known as Spirit Sight, it is a sixth sense which lies outside of the normal five senses which humans have. It is something which is not connected to the chakra network and cannot be controlled by Genjutsu. Because it is not a sense which can be controlled, it can be used to break free of almost every Genjutsu in existence."

"So, to put it bluntly, someone with Spirit Sense, like Naruto, is immune to Genjutsu?" Sakura really couldn't believe it. She'd just trained for three weeks to learn how to break illusions and Naruto didn't have to worry about them at all?

"Nobodies tried to use Genjutsu on me since I've gained my ability, but now that I think about it, yes." Naruto was ecstatic about this revelation, illusions had always been his weakest point, so not having to worry about them seemed like a good trade for now seeing ghosts. Just then, he felt he approach of someone familiar, someone who wasn't Kakashi or Sasuke. He stopped to look back, halting both Sakura and Yoshi in the process and the three of them began to hear voices.

Then came the familiar voice of Haruko flowing into the street, as well as the voice of his father and brother. What Naruto was not ready for was older genin's new exclamation. "Master Ichihara!!" He rushed up to Naruto teacher and began shaking his hand and bowing. It's a pleasure to see you again sir."

"Please, I told you before to simply call me Yoshi."

"You deserve the title 'Master' after you helped us." Replied the Ryuuza clan head. He walked up and bowed respectfully to the priest.

Naruto and Sakura both stared on mystified until Kazuma came up to them. "Do you two know that man?"

They both nodded and the young woman replied. "Yoshi-sensei is the one who taught Naruto the basics of Ninjutsu for four years, and he's been training me for the past month. How do you guys know him."

Kazuma looked at his family members and the priest before turning back to his friends, "He's the one who healed Dad after he got sick. If it hadn't been for him, we Ryuuza may never have come to Konoha. You guys say he's been training you? No wonder Naruto's so powerful."

"Yes," Yoshi had turned his attention back to his young students. "I schooled Naruto in the basics of Shinobi Way. After the first year of his training I left him alone for a month long survival course, during which I decided to travel the shinobi land to explore get a bearing on the current state of affairs. One of the first places I found myself in was near the Ryuuza's original home, where I met Haruko and his problems. Healing an entire clan of people in so short a time was beyond my power, but healing their leader so he could get help was possible."

Akira took over the narrative, "Master Yoshi requested that we keep his name a secret. He stated he'd recently done something which had angered the Hokage and may have made our being accepted into the village problematic. Though I didn't tell our clan his name, I did tell the Hokage. One does not start off a new alliance with lies, it may make things easier in the short run but in the long run it only causes distrust."

"And that old man still let you into the village, huh?" Yoshi sounded amused. "Sarutobi is a better man then I gave him credit for."

Haruko exploded into joy. "Now we must travel to our destination. And now that we are accompanied by Master Yoshi, we must make haste. I will give an even better performance knowing that the man we owe so much to is watching my fight."

Akira gave is flamboyant son a stern look. "Haruko, remember that we are now Shinobi of Konoha. We must follow any orders given to us from the Hokage. No matter what debt we may owe to Master Ichihara, if the Hokage orders us to capture or assassinate the man, then we must do so without hesitation."

"He's right Haruko." Naruto wasn't really surprised that his teacher was agreeing with the Ryuuza Head, but Sakura was. "Besides, you don't owe me any debt. Haruko was the one who asked for help, and he's already paid for my services."

This was the first time even Kazuma had herd about this. "Paid?"

"Yes, the universe requires balance, that is one truth which everything follows." They began walking toward exam arena as the priest went into lecture mode. "I believe in this rule, thus I never give items or offer services without a trade of services or times in exchange. Haruko gave me his memento from his mother in exchange for healing his father."

Kazuma seemed to understand what he was talking about. "I was wondering what happened to that knife."

Naruto seemed thoughtful for a moment before speaking up. "But Sensei, you never had me give you anything for all of my training."

With a smile, Yoshi continued. "Maybe not at first, but as time went on you began doing more of the chores around the house. Not to mention that much of your training was simply me showing you how to improve yourself so that didn't incur much of a price." The man gave an even wider smile before adding on the last little piece of information. "Then there was always **that** form of payment."

"**That**?" Naruto asked suspiciously. The Ryuuza and Sakura looked on what they were sure was going to be something very hilarious.

"Yes, **that**. Entertainment." Yoshi watched emotions ripple across his student's face and Aura, and he knew that because of Naruto's own Spirit Sight that he would know that every word was completely true. "Playing tricks on you, making you angry, then watching as your rage boiled over, it's quite enjoyable."

Naruto's eyes narrowed but he didn't move for a moment, then in a flash he'd thrown out two kunai at his former teacher. The man dodged the attack and sprinted ahead of the group with thoroughly pissed off Naruto on his tail. Kazuma watched them run into the arena and gave a slight smile, the rest of his group also grinned as he walked up to collect the two dagger the blond had left. "The man's right, that was funny."

* * *

They found Naruto sulking in one of the arena seats, apparently the priest had given his student the slip and was now in hiding. Sakura sat down beside her friend and looked around. "Can't you locate people with that special sense of yours?"

"Yes, but Yoshi-sensei is the one who taught me that trick. He's got some way to block my senses so I can't tell were he is."

The girl patted him on his shoulder, "Don't worry. He'll come back and then you'll be able to bash his skull in."

The blond shook his head. "No, he'll only come back after I've calmed down and overcome my anger. By then I won't have the heart to try and hurt him."

Then another two entered the arena and both members of Team 7 perked up. "Sasuke! Kakashi-sensei!" The pink haired girl called out.

The jonin gave the group a small wave, "Yo."

The Uchiha gave his teammates a small nod then proceeded to glare at the Ryuuza who would be his first opponent. Haruko simply smiled back at his competition before returning to talk with his father. Sasuke went to sit down with team and gave them and began his own chatting. "So, how'd you're guys' month go?"

With a smirk gracing his face, Naruto replied, "Great! I learned a few new jutsu and strengthened my body. I'm gonna win for sure!"

The third member smile nervously before replying, "I'm stronger then before and better at Genjutsu, but I still don't know if I can win."

"Now what happened to all that confidence I helped you build." The trio looked back up to the entrance and found Yoshi back, standing near Kakashi who was suspiciously eyeing him. "Good to finally meet you Kakashi, I am Yoshi Ichihara." He held out his hand which the jonin shook. "Thank you for taking care of my precious little Naruto."

Kakashi smiled back at this man who trained two of his students, "It's been my pleasure."

Then there was an announcement for the participants to enter the arena, so they could begin the Chunin Exam Finals. The crowd cheered, Team 7 and Haruko jumped down to fighting grounds as the rest of the exam participants collected.

* * *

The opening announcements were quick and to the point, nobody seemed to want to wait when all the ninja who were going to fight were present and accounted for. However, throughout the entire process, Naruto's nausea returned and he quickly found the source. _This time that snake bastard is posing as the Kazekage, how the hell did he get away with that?_

Naruto glanced up at Yoshi and found him staring at the Kage seats as well. _Gaara said he'd met with the Kazekage before so he knows it's someone different. I'll tell Kakashi-sensei about him when I get back to my seat._

Soon everyone was back in their seats except for Sakura and Makoto, the old examiner had been replace with someone named Genma Shiranui, a strange jonin who liked to chew on a sebon needle, and the match was quickly underway. Sakura bolted in close to start a taijutsu assault, but her opponent quickly finished his genjutsu. Everyone expected Sakura to skid to a halt, or at least use a Kai Release to break the spell. Nobody, aside from Naruto and Yoshi, could believe it when the girl didn't miss a step, and landed a clean punch against her opponent. Everyone watched as a taijutsu battle unfolded while most of the adults tried to figure out just how Sakura had broken the illusion. Those who had watched the preliminary exam were amazed by the performance of the pink haired genin.

"Is that really Sakura?" Ino especially couldn't believe the change in her rival. _If she had that kind of speed and strength when we fought, then I would have lost for sure._

Sasuke and Kakashi both had their Sharingan activated, both were watching to see if there was any tricks being used, but not even they could see something amiss. A few times, Makoto tried using other genjutsu on his opponent, but each time the female genin only shrugged off the illusion leaving him with another bruise from a punch or a stab of a kunai.

The Copy-nin looked over to Yoshi and found him smiling proudly, "How exactly did you improve her skills that much?"

"Good old fashion hard work for a month straight. She's mainly an intellectual type, so she's never actually pushed herself physically before. I made sure that the only thing she did was constant physical training, and it looks like she's taken well to it too. Though having knowledge is very important to being a ninja, not having the speed and skills to even escape pursuers is simply unacceptable."

Makoto have given up using Genjutsu on his opponent. He didn't know how or why but his illusions were being shrugged off before they could take effect. Despite that fact, the man wasn't too worried. Sakura may have increased her speed, strength, and stamina, but she still only had a month's time to improve. He was still the faster and stronger of the two by a good margin.

The female participant knew that fact as well. She was trying her best to dodge his punches and kicks, but she was only partially successful. Even after power training for a month, she knew Makoto had been at this for over two years and **he** hadn't neglected physical training at all. _His stamina is better then mine too, I'm becoming tired a lot more quickly then he is. If I don't find someway to wrap up this fight, then I'll be the one who loses._

Sakura attempted a few of her own genjutsu on her opponent, but he was able to Kai Release and dispel those attacks. He barely lost any momentum either, not nearly enough for Sakura to take advantage of. Luckily, he wasn't able to attack while dispelling so it didn't cost the younger genin to try a few illusion snipes.

The two continued with a Taijutsu fight for a few minutes, neither knowing good ninjutsu beyond the academy taught styles, but eventually Sakura fell before the assault and found herself with a kunai to her throat. Genma decided to call the match, "The winner of the first round is Makoto Kunosaki" The crowd started to applaud for the display of skill, a genjutsu fight was fairly boring for those who didn't have a doujutsu to the chakra being cast.

The older genin retracted his kunai and completely surprised his opponent by talking to her. "You've improved greatly over the past month. Far more then I would ever have imagined you could. I'll look forward to seeing how you progress, and I'll be looking forward to our next match."

With that Makoto returned to his seating while the audience cheered and Sakura followed suit with a smile forming on her face. She hadn't forgotten that Makoto never spoke unless he felt it necessary, so having his acknowledgement was doubly flattering. _He's right, I have improved a lot. I just need to get even better, Yoshi said that with my perfect control I could become a powerful medic-nin, maybe I should look into that. It would improve my physical arsenal by a good margin._

She got back to her team, but she nobody felt they needed to encourage her, they could see she wasn't depressed but trying to figure out ways to improve herself so she wouldn't lose again.

Soon the next match was announced, the one most of the crowds were waiting for. Hoping it was a good time, Naruto took that time to whisper to Kakashi, "Sensei, I don't know if you'll believe me or not, but I that Kazekage is an impostor."

Kakashi perked up at that, he'd herd Anko's report of how Naruto had identified the impostor genin, and Sasuke had told him about Naruto's ability to _feel_ where people were and distinguish them, but there was one thing that didn't add up. "I don't think you've ever met the Kazekage before, right Naruto?" The genin nodded. "Then how do you know he's not the real Kage?"

"Because it's that missing nin that attacked us in the Forest of Death, Orochimaru."

Kakashi went cold after hearing that. It made a sickening amount of sense the snake was right next to the Hokage and ready to strike when the anticipated invasion began. The jonin decided to let the Hokage know sometime during the next match-up.

Meanwhile, Haruko had jumped down to the arena to prepare for the next fight while Sasuke hung back to coax some tips out of Kazuma. "Hey, what can you tell me about your brother's fighting style and jutsu?"

The young Ryuuza simply shook his head and smiled. "Sorry Sasuke, but as much as it would thrill me to see Haru beaten, I can't just hand over that info." With a nod of understanding, the Uchiha got up. "I can tell you this much." Sasuke looked back at his former classmate and found he had a serious look on his face. "Don't use a fire jutsu against him, it'll be worse then useless."

Sasuke gave him a questioning look, but Kazu had become unreadable and wasn't willing to give up anymore information. Sasuke gave another nod out of courtesy then jumped down to the arena and the match soon began.

**(TBC)**

* * *

**A/N:** Not much in the way of action, Sakura's fight was mainly just something I had to get out of the way, but didn't feel like just ghosting over completely.

Next time there'll be plenty of action, and you'll get to see the power of the Ryuuza's Dragon's Rite. I think I used the wrong wording when I first introduced that jutsu, calling it 'Dragon's Right' I'll go back and change that.


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto nor any characters or abilities created by Masashi Kishimoto. Original characters, abilities and bloodlines in this story (there will be) are mine. If someone out there thinks an ability or character of mine is cool and wishes to use it, feel free. I only ask that you give me credit.

**Date:** 05/29/09

**Summary:** While running from an angry mob on his birthday, seven-year-old Naruto finds himself in a strange land where a shinobi turned priest offers to train him as a ninja. Naruto eventually discovers there is more to the world then just shinobi when he unlocks his spiritual power. Not a super Naruto fic (I hate those ones) but more of a smart and wise Naruto fic.

**Reviews:** Please review. I enjoy reviews, even if its only one or two words. I do not appreciate flames. If you don't like this story, its concept, or my writing style then don't read it. Don't read it then complain to me about it.

Spiritual Fox  
Chapter 23: Flames, Shadows, and Swords

Naruto watched as Sasuke began a taijutsu assault against Haruko, one Naruto was very familiar with having been on the receiving end during his preliminary fight. "Wow, Sasuke was able to copy Lee's taijutsu style and speed in so short a time. The Sharingan is amazing."

Kakashi gave his one eyed smile while the voice of a stranger cut in and sent shivers up the jonin's spine. "I must agree, young Sasuke's Power of Youth shine's extremely bright to be able to copy my student like that."

The rest of Team 7 looked back to see Gai and Lee had finally arrived. The younger green wearing nin gave Naruto a thumbs up, he had a few bandages on but he didn't have any splints or casts. "That was a most youthful fight we had Naruto, we must have a rematch later." His smile dissolved and he glared at his teacher. "This time without interference."

Gai didn't bother looking apologetic and instead began watching the fight along with everyone else. Although Sasuke's speed and strength had increased to Lee's level, it didn't seem to be having that much an effect on Haruko. He was getting hits in, but they were few and far between, usually met with some kind of counter attack. "I'm surprised that Haruko is so fast and strong," Stated the jonin taijutsu master.

"I once told Sasuke that Haruko was an idiot, but he's an incredibly powerful idiot." Kazu began. "The truth is that when a mission is involved Haruko becomes serious, and when he's serious he becomes incredibly smart and crafty." The fight was wearing on, and Sasuke was becoming more and more frustrated that his speed wasn't being effective as he thought. "Haru knew that someday he'd have to face taijutsu masters of Lee's level, so he's been training to deal with that situation."

Sasuke became too angry with his opponent and forgot Kazuma's warning, his hand's flew through his favored Grand Fireball technique and from his mouth, the Uchiha's signature move was released. A technique which Sasuke and almost everyone else had expected the young Ryuuza to dodge, but Haruko surprised them all by meeting the attack head on without any jutsu to protect him. Suddenly, the flames began to be pulled inward instead of dissipating. Kakashi revealed his Sharingan (he realized it was the second time he'd done that today, and he felt it would happen a lot more as the matches progressed) and the Hyuga in the stands activated their Byakugan. None of them could believe what they saw.

Sasuke quickly cancelled his own jutsu, not believing what he himself had seen. Soon everyone else in the stands watched in amazement as Haruko apparently _absorbed_ the flames, leaving himself without a single burn on his body. "I told him it would be worse then useless." Kazu stated offhandedly, and everyone who could see chakra could agree. The Ryuuza's chakra levels had just increased with the attack, he'd become even more powerful then before.

Naruto, Yoshi, not even Kakashi and Gai could understand what was going on. They all turned to Kazuma and Naruto was the one who asked. "Kazu, what just happened." In the fight, Haruko used his own fire attack against Sasuke, but this time he surprised everyone when his flame attack erupted from his mouth while using no hand signs at all.

"I told you about our Dragon's Rite, correct?" Naruto nodded, the others had heard about it as well so they also nodded. "This is it's effect. Dragon's Rite is a transformation jutsu. After one master's their chakra nature, Dragon's Rite will permanently change a ninja into the very embodiment of their element. Among our clan, when one completes the Dragon's Rite we say they've become an Element Dragon. Haruko chakra element was fire, so he's become a Fire Dragon." Sasuke was able to dodge the Ryuuza's fire attack, but he wasn't prepared for his opponent to shoot out of the flames itself. He was only just able to get his guard up to block, but found himself wishing he'd have dodged instead because Haru's kick was coated with very hot flames, which easily burned through Sasuke's cloths and left him with a nasty welt.

"One of the most obvious of advantages of the Dragon's right is that one can absorb a jutsu if it's of your element, and add the chakra in the attack to your own pools." Kazu explained further. "However, because what one is consuming is actually the chakra, a dragon can't absorb a natural element to increase their own strength."

Now that the shock had worn off, Kakashi was able to piece together some things that had happened in the preliminaries. "And because he's become the embodiment of fire, a wind attack will do little to nothing against him. That's why Temari's wind attack only scratched him."

Yoshi's smile had returned, and he voiced the conclusion which most of the ninja had begun to draw. "Concurrently, if a Fire Dragon such as Haruko is strong against wind attacks, that would make him extremely weak against water attacks. Thunder and Earth attacks would probably affect him as they would any other person."

Kazuma was pleased that they were all catching on so quickly. "Yep. Everyone who undergoes Dragon Rite will become extremely strong against two elements while becoming very weak against a third. Also, depending on what your element is, a Dragon also gains a few special abilities."

Sasuke tried to use his speed to retreat from the Ryuuza and regroup, but Haru showed another trick to the audience. He began racing after Sasuke and flames erupted from his feet, propelling him even faster then before. The Uchiha didn't have time to regroup, Haruko's new found speed let him keep up with his adversary.

"Interesting," began Kakashi. "I'm assuming the Fire Dragon's ability is to expel fire anywhere from his body, correct?"

Kazuma nodded as the others listened. "Most Dragon's powers are different though. A Thunder Dragon can release electricity from his body so they're similar to Fire, but they also become much more faster then before. Earth gains the ability to harden their skin to become near indestructible and they can launch spikes of that hardness from their body, they also get a generous boost in strength as well. Water Dragons can turn into water to avoid attacks as long as they have chakra. Finally, Wind can fly and they can not only make blades out of wind but almost anything else as well such as chains to bind."

The fight was wearing on, and Sasuke's wounds kept increasing. Haruko didn't need hand signs to launch fire attacks so the Sharingan couldn't copy the attacks. He was able to partially predict the attacks from where chakra pooled on the Ryuuza's body, but even that wasn't completely effective. Sasuke still couldn't tell whether a high concentration in his fists was an explosive punch or some sort of launched fire attack, and he had quite a few burns the first few times he used that trick. Fire had shot out of Haruko's hands instead of it just being an explosive punch.

Sasuke knew one thing though, using those fire attacks and that fire enhanced speed used a fair amount of chakra. He'd already burned off all the chakra he'd absorbed from the Uchiha's fire attacks. If Sasuke could last long enough, he'd force Haru to use up all of his chakra.

In the stands, Sakura asked their old classmate, "Is it ok for you to give that much information about your clan's jutsu? It isn't wise to tell all of your secrets like that."

"I never said that was everything to the Dragon's Rite. There are a few more important pieces of information that I haven't told you about. Besides, all of that was bound to be revealed eventually so there's no real harm in my telling you about it. Dad was planning on making that public information after the chunin exams anyways, so he said it was ok to tell everyone the truth."

Yoshi smiled, "It really is interesting to see all of the clever jutsu people keep developing."

"I'm a little upset that the Hokage never told me about this." Stated Kakashi, everyone watched as he disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Most of the group though his actions were a little strange, but only Naruto and Yoshi knew the real reason the Copy Nin wanted to talk to Sarutobi.

To say Sasuke was annoyed was an understatement._ Most of my jutsu are fire type, but I already know he absorbs those. I can't get in close to use taijutsu because he'll just use flame attacks. That paralysis jutsu Kakashi taught me didn't work, the only thing I have left is that last jutsu sensei taught me._

As Sasuke prepared his assault, Kakashi appeared in the Kage box next to his leader. "You know Lord Hokage, I'm a little hurt that you didn't tell me about the Dragon's Rite. I am one your strongest fighters you know."

Sarutobi simply smiled. "You'd already become a jonin instructor, there was no need for a teacher to know about such a clan jutsu. Of course, if you'd have taken Haruko's team as your own, then that would be different."

Kakashi shuddered at the though of the overbearing shinobi. "But sir, you owe me so much. Remember that time that I…" Kakashi bent down to whisper. _"Naruto told me the Kazekage is actually Orochimaru. Please be careful."_

The Hokage's eyes widened with shock, then he made himself blush and cough. "As I recall, I already paid my debt for that incident. And I believe I ordered you never to speak of it again."

With a sigh, the Copy nin replied, "Oh well. It was worth a shot." Soon Kakashi had disappeared again.

"What incident were you talking about?" Asked the Kazekage.

Still blushing, Sarutobi replied, "Something best left forgotten."

* * *

Sasuke threw out a few balls which turned out to be smoke bombs, ones which only worked briefly and dissipated soon after. During the cloud cover, everyone began to hear the sound of birds, and only a few of the higher level jonin knew what that meant. Kakashi reappeared with his group and Gai looked over at him. "So that's why you trained him to have greater speed."

Sakura looked over at the two adults. "What is that technique, sensei?"

"Its called the Chidori, it's a powerful lightning attack which forms thunder around one's hand. It's a piercing move which becomes more effective the faster one becomes. With the Sharingan, Sasuke will be able through the smoke before Haruko then he'll strike with his attack."

Just as Kakashi predicted, Sasuke saw through the dissolving smoke before his opponent. Even though Haru had moved, the other boy was able to rush over with his attack before the Ryuuza knew what was happening. The Dragon did catch Sasuke at the last second and engulfed his body with flames, but this time Sasuke's hand was covered with strong lightning and it was enough to protect him from the fire. The younger boy's hand pierced through his chest and Sasuke smirked, thinking that he'd won.

Then the Ryuuza's body itself began to dissolve into flame, and the younger genin only had a split second to panic before the Fire Clone exploded. Sasuke was sent reeling back and landed hard on the ground. The young boy was knocked unconscious, and even if he had been awake he was too hurt to continue. Haruko jumped up from a whole he'd dug nearby and looked down at his opponent.

Genma finally decided to call the match. "The winner of this round is Haruko Ryuuza."

"No way, the Uchiha lost?" Most of the crowd was saying the same thing, wondering just how Sasuke had lost his fight.

Kakashi on the other hand was looking at things in a more objective light. "Hmm, an exploding Fire Clone, an interesting counter to the Chidori."

Gai nodded with Kakashi as they watched Sasuke being carted off for medical treatment, Sakura had run off to be with her teammate while Naruto began to stretch for his fight. "Yes, smoke not only hides you from your opponent, it also hides your opponent from you. Hopefully young Sasuke will learn from this fight."

While the audience was still gossiping about the Uchiha's fight, both Shikamaru and Naruto jumped down to the opposite sides of the arena to prepare for their fight. "Wow Shika, no complaints about how troublesome it is to fight?"

The young Nara actually smirked. "Oh, it is troublesome, but I know you'd drag me down to fight if I tried to back out. That would be even more troublesome and humiliating."

The examiner smirked at the two friends, "The third match of the chunin exam will now begin."

Both participants brought their hands up to form hand signs. "All right Shika, if you can't survive this first attack then we're not friends anymore." Suddenly 15 more Naruto's popped into existence and they rushed their opponent.

The shadow user smiled and made the hand signs for his newest jutsu. Suddenly the boy's shadow erupted from the ground and physically attacked the charging blonds. Soon all of the shadow clones were dispelled, leaving Naruto both stunned and excited at the same time. "Cool, what's that one called."

"Shadow Stitching." The young boy's shadow rushed forward and Naruto jumped back to dodge while throwing a few shuriken which the Nara's shadow jumped to knock out of the way.

In the stands, Shikamaru's team and his father were watching with amazement. Normally the young Nara had to be constantly prodded into learning anything, but he'd actively put effort into learned a new jutsu because he wanted to be a challenge to his friend. It was the sort of motivation which only Naruto could provide.

Shikamaru's jutsu had reached it's time limit and began to shrink back to normal, and Naruto rushed forward while weaving his jutsu for a close ranged attack. Shikamaru saw he wasn't using the Shadow Clone technique, so he used his Shadow Possession knowing that his blond friend wouldn't be able to dodge at such a close range. However, just as his shadow was about to connect with Naruto's, the jinchuriki completed his jutsu and everything went black for the shadow manipulator. Shika froze for a moment then felt Naruto painfully punch him, he was sent flying through the darkness then found himself skidding through the arena while in light.

Before him, covering a good portion of the fighting grounds was black cloud of darkness, it was the only way for Shikamaru to describe the jutsu which Naruto had used. Then he heard a familiar sound when three shuriken flew out of the darkness heading straight for shadow user, Shika quickly activated his Shadow Stitching and knocked away the projectiles then advanced his shadow to attack. The young Nara wasn't surprised when his shadow couldn't cross into the darkness, this time multiple kunai were thrown out of the void which were once again knocked back with Shadow Stitching. Shika quickly ran to the cover of nearby trees to regroup without being exposed to projectile weapons.

Sakura had returned from checking on Sasuke, he'd have some scars but eventually he'd make a full recovery. In the stands, multiple ninja were amazed by the unfolding battle. Many of the high level ninja were familiar with genjutsu that caused darkness, but this was the first time they'd seen a jutsu summon real darkness.

Not even Kakashi had seen such a jutsu. "Interesting." He looked over at Yoshi. "Did you teach him that one?"

With a nod, the priest explained. "It's called Dark Cloud, a special jutsu which creates a field that absorbs light. It normally gives one cover, but its also the perfect jutsu for an opponent such as Shikamaru."

Kakashi nodded and Sakura soon figured out what the priest meant. "Shika mainly uses shadow techniques, but shadows can't exist in absolute darkness. Naruto can just attack from the darkness and Shikamaru's jutsu can't touch him." Then another thought occurred to Sakura. "And because Naruto can sense people's locations he isn't handicapped by his own technique."

"Yes," Yoshi replied. "Now lets see how the young Nara responds to this new development. Since Dark Cloud is actually an absence of light instead of a physical mist, it can't be blown away even if one knew a wind jutsu. That boy didn't seem surprised when his shadows couldn't enter the darkness so he's bound to figure out something."

Shikamaru had figure something out, and he had just finished his preparations. Shikamaru began his own assault by launching as many kunai as possible into the dark void, he didn't know Naruto's position, but the boy still existed in the field. _Unless he's tunneling under me right now, but there's no way for me to tell that. Hell, he could let his clones tunnel under me and keep his physical self protected, but I don't think that's his plan. If he was going to use Shadow Clones he'd probably rush out from various points to attack and I wouldn't be able to defend against them all either._

Just then more shuriken were thrown out of the darkness, meaning at the very least one of Naruto's clones was still in the void. _This will either destroy the clone or flush out the true blond._ Suddenly the darkness was filled with the sounds of explosions, _Letter bombs are just as effective even if you can't see them. Even if Naruto could sense me, its unlikely that same tactic would work for explosives too._ Just as Shika predicted, the shockwaves through a confused blond out of the darkness.

Naruto had thought things had been going too well, and he knew Shikamaru wasn't the type who'd loose his cool and waste weapons, so the blond had wondered what his friend had been doing with those kunai he'd been throwing. It was only too late that the blond realized those knives hadn't been thrown at random, but they'd primed with explosives and thrown to cover almost every inch of the blond's darkness with fire. Luckily Naruto had been near the edge of the void so he'd only gotten the wind knocked out of him, but he'd also been thrown into daylight. That not only left him vulnerable to Shikamaru's attack, but his eyes had grown used to the dark so suddenly being in light had half blinded him.

The blond began to weave hand signs to use one of the new jutsu he'd learned, because even if he couldn't see he knew two things. He could still sense Shikamaru's presence and was well aware that his friend wouldn't waste a chance like this. He completed his jutsu and a shaft of light extended from the top and bottom of his closed fist. Naruto used his other hand to pull back a sliver from the shaft and revealed his newest jutsu, one which created a bow and arrow out of light and let him have a distance attack constantly ready. However, this time he didn't need a distance attack, he aimed his arrow at the ground between him and Shikamaru and fired. His eyes adjusted enough so he could see he'd guessed right, the Nara's shadow was back to it's normal size and he looked confused as well. He'd never gotten to test it before, but the blond's newest skill could disrupt chakra flow and cancel jutsu if used properly.

Naruto fired another arrow, this time aiming at his friend. The people in the audience were stunned, this was the second time they'd even heard of such a jutsu. The people around Yoshi looked at the man and found his mischievous grin back in place. "I suppose you taught him this jutsu too?" The last child of Team 7 asked.

"I left him a few scrolls this past month. This Light Jutsu is powerful, one can either solidify the arrows into a physical attack or leave them in their usual form where they disrupt chakra. He can cancel jutsu, or if he hit's a person he'll render them unable to use their chakra for a short time, 10 seconds at the most." Shikamaru had been constantly dodging Naruto's attacks, but the blond had been using his arrows to cancel his opponent's shadow powers. Another arrow was launched, this one only just missing it's mark. "Of course, that's only if he can hit someone with it. He still needs to work on his aim, but it seems he's gotten better over the past month of practice. The only real drawback is that those arrows cost a fair amount of chakra each, using a lot of them like that after so many shadow clones will exhaust even Naruto."

The crowd could tell that the fight wouldn't last much longer. Both boys were panting and neither one seemed ready to give in. Suddenly Shikamaru began another Shadow Possession, Naruto brought up another arrow of light but he found that he didn't need it, Shika's shadow was rushing toward him, but staying in one place. The blond prepared for Shika's next attack, but soon found his friend's technique had finally hit it's mark. Naruto was forced to release his jutsu and copy his friends actions. "Ahh, Shadow Possession had finally been achieved." The people in the crowd were confused.

Naruto already knew the answer, but he made his opponent talk. "When did you make the tunnel?" The blond had only noticed it after he'd gotten captured, Shika's shadow was right at the tip of a hole in the ground, one which most likely came out behind Naruto.

"I made it with Shadow Stitching back when you were hiding in your dark field. Just like with Sasuke, a smoke screen may hid you from your opponent, but it also hides your opponent from you. I figured that once I flushed you out that it wouldn't be the end of it, so I made this Plan B just in case."

"I guess I should have just used Light Arrows from the start."

Both Shikamaru and Naruto began walking toward each other. "Even I make mistakes, but unfortunately, this is the end." He raised his hand and Naruto copied him. "I give up."

"What?" That wasn't just Naruto, but everyone else in the stands too.

"I don't have your stamina, I'll only be able to hold you for another few seconds at best. My mistake was using up too much chakra before this possession." Shikamaru's technique involuntarily released. "I'm done."

Genma followed protocol. "The winner is Naruto Uzumaki."

"NO WAY!!" The blond shouted as he confronted the judge. "I was cocky and sloppy, Shika's the one who should advance. I give up!"

"Sorry kid, but you should have thought of that before. Shikamaru resigned first so he loses."

Naruto turned to face is friend, but found the young Nara had collapsed on the ground. He was breathing hard and in a sitting position. "I told you that I didn't have the strength to keep going and I was telling you the truth. Shadow Stitching takes a lot more out of me then Shadow Possession, I don't know if I'll be able to fight another round like that today." Medics came to take away the exhausted shadow user. "Sorry man, I know you hate to win like this but I really can't fight another round."

As he was carried off, Naruto ran with them, "It was a good fight, so I'll forgive you. If my aim had been better then I would have won for sure."

Shika smiled and he finally passed out. The medic assure Naruto that it was only chakra exhaustion and Naruto returned to his seat, slightly upset but mood was better. He knew Shika was truly sorry for giving up, so it was easy to forgive. "I'm getting tired of being handed wins."

"Don't get too upset with yourself Naruto." Kakashi tried to comfort the boy. "Lee's taijutsu is far superior to yours, yet you still fought him to a draw. Shikamaru is a genius tactician but you still pushed him to his limit. It's ok to feel upset, but don't dwell on it."

"I know, I was just saying that I had to train harder so I wouldn't lose again." Naruto smirked at his teacher.

"YOSH! Naruto's youth shines as brightly as his arrows of light." Everyone looked over at the pair of green wearing shinobi, both had tears in their eyes and were hugging each other. "LEE, I'm so sorry for interfering with your fight."

"GAI-SENSEI, I'm sorry for worrying you and getting injured. GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

Everyone, even Yoshi, promptly ignored the insane duo and waited for the next match to begin. That was until Kankuro decided to forfeit before the match even began. It caused a minor stir in the crowd but everyone calmed down as the last match of the round was called and both Gaara and Satu jumped down to the grounds and prepared for the next fight.

Genma began the match and the two jumped into action, Satu using a distance attack with his sword and Gaara actually dodging the strike, not wanting to find out if his sand shield would deflect the slash or not. Gaara's month of training had mainly been about increasing his speed and endurance, with an opponent who could cut through anything he needed to be able to dodge.

The sand manipulator used his techniques to try and capture Satu. Like with Negi, the swordsman couldn't actually stop his sand manipulation so he was forced to dodge the swipes. Unlike Negi, he didn't need to be close range to attack so he could strike and force Gaara to dodge as well. Then the Sand Nin showed just how versatile his power was, the area under Satu began to dissolve into sand, capturing the genin's legs as he sank. Because he could no longer move, Gaara made quick work to capture both of his opponent's hands and separating the ninja from his sword.

"It's a small matter for me to make more sand by crushing rocks and minerals in the soil." Satu continued to struggle against his sand restraints, but Gaara only clenched his fist and tightened his hold. "It no use I won't be letting you go that easily. I'll be having other matches so I don't want to get tiered out by this one. Just concede the match and we'll move on."

Satu only glared at his opponent. "You don't actually think I'll give up like that, do you?"

"I suppose not." Sand formed in front of the jinchuriki and the Leaf genin's sword rose out of the pile handle first. "I must admit that your sword is quite interesting. It doesn't create wind attacks, yet it can strike from a distance. I saw how it can cut through steel, yet it followed your will and didn't hurt that Tenten girl." Gaara picked up the sword and held it out in front of himself. Satu glared at his opponent, daring him to use his own sword. "I always use sand attacks, so I've been wondering how using such a weapon would feel." The sand user swung the sword and smirked to his opponent. He was surprised to see the swordsman smirking back at him, then his eyes widened in shock.

Everyone in the crowd couldn't believe it when Gaara body erupted in wounds, as if a hundred invisible swords had simultaneously slashed the Sand Genin. The boy let the sword fall from his hands as he collapsed in pain, his sand converging on his own body to try and stop his bleeding.

"GAARA!" Both Temari and Kankuro yelled out. Even their instructor Baki was upset, more because they were counting on Gaara to make the invasion an assured victory.

The sand shinobi simply laid in shock, wondering what had happened. Once moment he'd been holding the sword, the next he was covered in wounds. He heard foot steps and someone picked up the sword. He looked over and saw his opponent had freed himself. "What did you do?"

Satu looked down in shock, "You're still alive? Usually it just kills people."

"What?" Gaara was losing consciousness fast.

"My sword is particular about who uses it. It only accepts one master, and that master only switches after the previous one dies. Anyone else who tries to use it ends up dead, you're the first person I've ever herd of who's survived." Satu sheathed his weapon. "If you hadn't tried to use my weapon you would have won."

With that, Gaara fell unconsciousness and Genma decided to finally call the match.

As the crowd cheered, multiple feathers began to fall down from the sky and everyone in the arena felt sleepy. Most of the higher level ninja were able to dispel the genjutsu but quite a few still fell before the sleep inducing illusion. Afterwards, everyone who was still awake knew one thing, the invasion had begun.

**(TBC)**

* * *

**A/N:** All right, the rest of the matches are finished and I've finally introduced the true power of the Dragon's Rite.

I first got the idea from the manga Fairy Tail and Natsu the Fire Dragon Mage. His ability to coat himself in fire and consume it to increase his power seemed very cool. I eventually chose to make the clan not just be Fire Consumers, but have a mix of five element dragons who gained different abilities based on their element. However, I was left with the problem that a Wind Dragon could simply breath in air to replenish his strength and I didn't like that prospect., it seemed too cheap.

Then I just decided to have the Dragon only able to absorb a jutsu of their type, and they could only increase their chakra levels.

If anyone is wondering, Haruko's cloths are treated to be fireproof.

Shikamaru defeats Naruto, and Naru shows off his newest jutsu, the Light Arrow.

Gaara loses, struck down by his own curiosity. I might eventually explain more about Satu's sword, but I'm not sure how yet.

Next time, the invasion will be fully underway. The Ryuuza will finally show off their power and get to earn their keep, and both Sasuke and Gaara will be too injured to fight. And despite not being of the Leaf Village, Yoshi will help them out. Can anyone guess why?


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto nor any characters or abilities created by Masashi Kishimoto. Original characters, abilities and bloodlines in this story (there will be) are mine. If someone out there thinks an ability or character of mine is cool and wishes to use it, feel free. I only ask that you give me credit.

**Date:** 06/21/09

**Summary:** While running from an angry mob on his birthday, seven-year-old Naruto finds himself in a strange land where a shinobi turned priest offers to train him as a ninja. Naruto eventually discovers there is more to the world then just shinobi when he unlocks his spiritual power. Not a super Naruto fic (I hate those ones) but more of a smart and wise Naruto fic.

**Reviews:** Please review. I enjoy reviews, even if its only one or two words. I do not appreciate flames. If you don't like this story, its concept, or my writing style then don't read it. Don't read it then complain to me about it.

Spiritual Fox  
Chapter 24: The Invation Begins

Chaos, that was the only thing which Temari could call their current state of affairs. Many of the higher level Konoha shinobi had shaken off the sleep genjutsu that was cast on the arena, and they had awaken those that had fallen before or during the fights had broken out. Everything would have been assured if Gaara hadn't lost, and getting her brother treated was the one thing that was on her mind right now. Gaara may not have outright died from his wounds, but not even his demon could heal all those injuries. The only thing both Temari and Kankuro were sure of was that they needed medical help for their brother but they wouldn't find it during an attack.

Or, at least that's what they'd believed when they collected their brother and found a place to hide in the stands. They'd been trying to treat Gaara's wounds (the sand was hampering them) when someone familiar showed up. "Master Yoshi…" Temari stated as she held up her fan defensively.

The man wasn't wearing his usual smile, but was looking at them intently. "I can heal him. It is well within my power."

Kankuro had talked with Gaara much more in the past month then ever in his entire life. The younger boy had told his brother all about this man, including the fact that he did nothing for free. "And what price would we have to pay."

"You'll both have to put your own lives and Gaara's in fate's hands. I'll draw your own life energy to heal your brother, but that will leave you two unconscious for the duration of the invasion. If the wrong people find you, they could easily hold you captive, or just outright kill the three of you. If you're awake then you'll have a good chance at defending yourselves from whoever comes along."

Both Temari and Kankuro had the same thought, this man could easily have healed their brother completely on his own. He could have simply asked a price from one of them in order leave the other to guard. Instead, he'd asked for both of them to put themselves at risk and probably wouldn't have accepted any other payment. Though they did share one other thought, they wanted to help their brother. Someone who had started to act like a human being within the past year, and even more so since they came to Konoha. They didn't want to lose him.

The two nodded and Yoshi placed his hands on their chests, both of them fell to the ground asleep from the extraction which had taken place. Yoshi had taken out as much energy as he could without affecting the two's health or lifespan, he walked over to Gaara and began to chant as he pushed his sibling's life energy into the jinchuriki's battered body. The wounds began to heal even faster then they would have on Naruto.

He left the three like that, truly leaving them in fates hands. Normally he wouldn't involve himself in a ninja war, it simply wasn't the thing a priest would do. He would gladly give his help to heal civilians afterwards, but shinobi knew just what they were getting themselves into when they joined their village. They knew their home could be attacked by their enemies and they could die, it was the same for those who actually did the invading.

However, he had liked Gaara, so he'd offered his services to his siblings. He had to be quick about it though, for some reason he had a strong feeling that he was needed elsewhere. Someplace close to the Hokage.

* * *

Both Naruto and Sakura were sticking together. The invasion was in full swing and as genin of their village they knew they couldn't just sit back and do nothing at all. Kakashi had gone to fight with Gai, they were both among the strongest their village had at the moment and they needed to be on the front lines. The two Genin were strong, but not nearly as strong as the fully grown fighters which were attacking.

The two had taken the job of awakening those who had fallen under the sleep genjutsu, an important task which swelled their ranks with each Kai Release. Those they awoke quickly gathered their wits and ran off to fight or simply went to awaken another of their sleeping allies. Naruto had also summoned two human sized warrior frogs to protect them while they worked, the teammates could focus more on their jobs that way.

Within a few minutes, everyone was awake and fighting, both Naruto and Sakura had joined the ranks and were working with the frogs to defend the arena's sick bay where their friends were currently held. Naruto had a brief pang of worry when he didn't find Gaara among he injured, the boy may have been a Suna nin, but Naruto still liked the other Jinchuriki. There had been a few times when Gaara had been on the verge of telling him something about the exam and Naruto was sure this was it.

Naruto returned to his lookout, wondering how many more people he'd have to kill today. _I tried to avoid it as best I could, but so far I've killed three Suna and Sound nin._ Never before had Naruto been so conflicted about having Spirit Sight as a ninja. He could see his opponents souls, it was impossible to only see them as 'the enemy'. _With Keitaro I was able to help him, but there are too many people attacking now. They're also just following orders, these fighters aren't hurt souls like Kei was._ A sound ninja tried to attack Sakura from behind and before Naruto knew what he was doing his hand threw a few kunai and pierced the man's heart. _One thing is for sure, I don't want to kill but I really don't want to see my friends killed either. I'm not skilled enough to disable these ninja, so if I don't kill them my friends might die too. I'll protect the people who are precious to me._

* * *

Near the Hokage's box, Sarutobi stood and watched the two coffins in front of Orochimaru open. He knew from his old student's words just what was going to appear from those boxes, the Hokage wasn't surprised when the first two Kage's emerged to do battle with their old student. _You truly have crossed an even greater line, my old pupil. At least I was able to stop him from summoning the Fourth Hokage._

The snake had launched a full out invasion of the Leaf Village, attempted to capture the Hokage and failed thanks to Naruto's warning. His henchmen had trapped him inside a powerful barrier, one which Sarutobi knew wouldn't be penetrated by any of his men. For some reason, the old man hadn't been nearly as angered when he found his student had become a body snatcher. However, seeing his old mentors again, using them like some sort of weapon or tool, set the older man's blood a boil.

"We're sorry to trouble you like this, Sarutobi." Said the First Hokage.

"Now to make them perfect." Orochimaru stabbed his creations with sealed kunai and the two bodies became far more healthy then before. Their faces lost their expressions, making them into the perfect killing machines.

Sarutobi began to sweat, _I just went from fighting a very difficult one on one battle to fighting a near impossible three on one battle._

"Three on two, Sarutobi."

Both the third Hokage and Orochimaru were shocked to find Yoshi standing with the leader of Konohagakure. "How did you get through my barrier?" Demanded Orochimaru. He looked to his Sound Four, but none of them could give an answer. They hadn't wavered in the slightest, there were no breaks in either shield.

"I wouldn't be a mysterious priest if I simply told people all my secrets." He turned to the Hokage, "I'll let you take care of that snake, I'll deal with those two summoned souls." Sarutobi noticed something slightly disturbing, Yoshi had lost his smile. In fact, he'd easily say the man was angry. "I won't even charge you for assistance this time."

"Although help is appreciated, I can't stop from wondering why."

"Because that person has committed crimes which I, as a priest, cannot ignore. Summoning the souls of the dead from their rest, forcing them to possess bodies, and binding them to his will are things which I cannot overlook. I will deal with the summoned ones, you fight your old student."

The third gave Yoshi a shrewd look. "You're quite confident that you can defeat those two previous Kage."

Yoshi made a dismissive gesture, "They are no more then souls which are possessing bodies. Even a novice priest can perform the exorcism to send them back where they belong."

"I doubt they will simply let you dispel their souls. Orochimaru has ordered them to attack, they will not let themselves fall." The snake extracted his sword from his body, greatly angered by someone bypassing his barrier and interfering with his attack.

A smile formed on the priest's lips. "You just focus on the snake. Trust me, I'll get the job done then assist you. Orochimaru must be punished for his transgressions." The smile was soon gone and the man's serious expression had returned. "Now!"

Sarutobi summoned his Enma staff and rushed his old student while Yoshi threw multiple kunai at the two previous Kage. The speed and accuracy of those daggers weren't something the summoned brothers could ignore, they were forced to dodge and focus their attention on the priest.

The snake didn't like the turn of events at all, his old teacher used his staff to block his strikes. _This is not how things were suppose to unfold. It was suppose to be only the Hokage and I trapped in this barrier. Now my puppets will have to waste their time killing that other fool. I don't care what he says, he won't defeat those fighters that easily._

Both Orochimaru and Sarutobi had to dodge as the First used his wood jutsu to try and capture his opponent. Yoshi responded by using his smoke bombs to blind his opponents, he had a very simple method for defeating the puppets, the same he used for dispelling any possessing ghost. Under his cover, he pulled two paper talismans from his robes and prepared his assault.

Resurrected Hokage had retreated from the smoke, neither wanted to be caught unaware by their opponent. They could both tell that the man was not someone to be underestimated, especially if he could dodge the First's attack so easily. Then suddenly there were multiple priests shooting out of the smoke, Shadow Clones were rushing the two Kage brothers and they retaliated with deadly force like their master wanted. Soon all of the clones had been killed, just like their master wanted and they began to look around for the true body.

Then they felt something pressed against their backs, fearing an exploding note they tried to turn around to deal with the problem, but found they couldn't move their new bodies. "And you won't be able to move them either. Those are paralysis talismans, they are designed to freeze ghosts which are possessing humans, making them easier to exorcise." Yoshi walked in front of the two Kage. "However, the bodies you two are possessing are already dead. They have no true soul in them anymore, so by stopping your souls I stop your bodies as well." His hands made a strange sign. "And now for the exorcism."

Yoshi began to chant, and the two puppets could do nothing but watch as the man's hands began to glow. Then he began to make hand signs, which neither of the Senju brothers recognized, while saying single words. "Rin. Pyo. To. **(1)**" He placed his hands on the heads of the two Kage, and the two ghosts suddenly felt very peaceful and free. Whatever the man had done, it had released the jutsu which bound them. With a smile, the priest gave them the final words, "It was nice to see you again, Hashirama."

Sarutobi was on the ground and bleeding, his student with his young body had been too much for the elderly Hokage. He hadn't been quick enough to block the snakes sword strikes. Just as Orochimaru was about to finish off his former teacher, he became startled by the disappearance of the First Hokage's wood jutsu. His gaze swiveled to find Yoshi standing over the bodies of his two former minions, the one's who'd failed the preliminaries and he'd used for the Resurrection. Yoshi had a grave look on his face, he then made a slashing gesture toward the snake, as if he held a sword, without even looking in Orochimaru's direction. The Sannin hadn't known what to expect from the action, but he hadn't thought that his body would seize and leave him completely immobile.

"That was your first punishment, Orochimaru." Yoshi was calmly walking over to the snake, as if he had all of the time in the world. The snake tried to say something, but found he couldn't even speak. "You have committed three grave crimes, and you shall be given three punishments as well. The first is a duel punishment, both knowledge and physical. You are not the first ninja to become a body snatcher, snake, and you definitely won't be the last. However, the truth is that you haven't discovered eternal life, simply temporary youth. I've read records of people who have done the same thing you have, and they all found the same exact flaw." The priest paused for a moment to let Orochimaru absorb what he was saying before he continued. "A soul is suppose to inhabit only one body in it's lifetime. To force a soul to take possession of another body makes it unstable, causing the body to reject your soul after a time. Each time you transfer, your soul gets more unstable until it no longer is able to even inhabit another body.

"To put it bluntly Orochimaru, you only get a certain number of transfers before your soul becomes too damaged to jump again, and then you die. Every other person who's used this jutsu could only transfer seven times before the jutsu killed themselves. It is impossible to obtain eternal life, only imitations of it. What I just did was damage your soul further, causing the equivalence of three transfers at once and leaving you with three more transfers before you kill yourself."

"You're lying!" He'd finally found his voice and the snake was only too happy to voice his opinion.

With a smile back in place, this one darker then his usual smile, Yoshi replied, "You'll find out after another three transfers. Now…" He grabbed the snake's arm. "Your next punishment is a curse." Orochimaru's arm turned a dark color and hung helplessly against his side. "One's sins usually weigh down a person's soul, but this curse will make them weigh down your body as well. If you continue to commit such horrible crimes as you have in the past, then more of you're body will be weighed down as well. The next to go will be your other arm, then your legs, then the rest until you become completely paralyzed. You will never be able to escape this curse, because it is tied to you're soul and not your body."

Fear began to show on the Sannin's face. He had never been so helpless in his entire life, this man standing before him had just paralyzed his body and made his arm completely useless. Even as a child he could have struggled and ran, even those most basic defenses were taken from him.

* * *

Throughout the entire village, Leaf nin were fighting off the invasion. Nara clan members were using their shadows to bind and kill. Large Akamichi were fighting giant snakes along side Jiraiya's large toads. The Yamanaka clan members were turning their foes on each other and Aburame's insects swarmed over their enemies. The Hyuga proved their place as most powerful by keeping track of the enemies and using Gentle Fist to decimate the opposition.

The Ryuuza were finally glad to defend their new home and earn their place. Not even Orochimaru had been aware of the Dragon's Rite so none of the invaders knew how to deal with the dragons. Fire Dragons like Haruko were using taijutsu to plow through the enemies along with speedy Thunder Dragons. Wind Dragons flew over head and cut down the enemies they could find from the air while Water Dragons let attacks pass through them while they retaliated. Those that were Earth Dragons had activated their defense and turned their skin a bluish black color and blocked attacks with their bodies, covering their allies in times of need.

Naruto and Sakura got a surprise when Haruko and his team showed up carrying three unconscious enemies, but one of them was someone who the blond had been worried about. "Gaara!"

Satu set down the Sand Jinchuriki while his teammates set down the red head's siblings. "Looks like someone healed him, I'm not sure who though. The others were lying next to him."

The Ryuuza interrupted, "We heard you two were helping to guard the injured here, so we thought we'd add more and help you guard."

Naruto looked at the team with gratitude, he could feel Yoshi on the three siblings so he had a good guess who had healed Gaara. "Thanks, now let's make our village proud."

* * *

"I can feel it from here, Orochimaru. The invaders are being repelled by the Konoha nin, there isn't nearly enough Leaf deaths to be a sign of defeat. You have failed and in your ambition of destroying this village, and now for your punishment…" He placed his hand over the snake's face while he glared at his opponent. Orochimaru trembled with fear, terror evident on his features. "I will grant you pain, shame, and a scar that shall never heal. So that every time you look in a mirror, you'll be reminded of me." **(2)**

Pain and blood covered the snake's face, he'd gained control of his body once again and he brought his good hand up to cradle his head. His servants were calling his name, asking for directions. He'd wanted to kill his old teacher, but fear overruled that desire. _I need to get away from this man._ "We're leaving." He called to the Sound Four. At once, the barrier nin abandoned their posts and rushed to their master's side, making as quick an escape as possible. A few Leaf ANBU attempted to follow, but they were stopped by Kidomaru's webs.

Yoshi watched the retreat for a few moments but did not follow. He quietly walked over the prone from Sarutobi and smiled down at the old man who's life was slowly draining away. "I can heal you if you want, though I will charge you this time." He didn't usually help ninja, but the Hokage had been injured by Orochimaru so he decided to make an exception.

The Hokage simply laughed. "I believe I shall end things here, a new Hokage must be chosen."

Yoshi smiled sadly, "You can step down while you're still alive. Nobody will stop you."

"Yes, but I fell in battle so I'll end things here." His shaky hand trailed up to his headband. "There is one request I have of you. Please guard this village from the shadows until the next Hokage is chosen. It may take some time to find the one I believe will be chosen. I'll offer this as payment." He took off his personal headband and held it out to the priest.

Yoshi knew just what the action meant. A ninja's headband was a symbol of pride, even a missing nin continued to wear the proof of his or her's former allegiance. It would normally be buried or burned with the ninja as if it were a part of them, sometimes headbands were lost or stolen but it was never something one gave away . Yoshi took the item from the dying Hokage. "The payment is accepted, I will watch over and protect this village until the next Hokage is chosen." He placed his hand on Sarutobi's face and closed his eyes. "You have done things which you are not proud of, things which weigh heavily on your soul, things which you deeply regret. However, you're soul is still good, it will go to a good place." Yoshi smiled down at the man under him. "I guarantee it."

Sarutobi closed his eyes again and smiled. His life expired leaving the village without a Kage.

* * *

The invasion quickly fell apart after Orochimaru left. The remaining Sound Shinobi followed their master in fleeing the village, while the Sand nin didn't have any leader to follow at all.

Temari and Kankuro had escaped with Gaara. The two had awoken toward the end of the invasion and were quite relieved to find themselves unbound in the arena's sick bay. The Konoha village elders had been ecstatic to hear a group of their genin had found and captured the children of the Kazekage. For an instant, they thought they had the perfect bargaining chip, until they learned the Sand genin had escaped because the five genin guards had all "been too distracted by the other invading forces to pay them any attention".

Sasuke had awoken well after the fighting had stopped, he seemed particularly angry that he'd been unconscious for the duration of the attack. He calmed down slightly when Naruto and Sakura informed him of the fairly boring details. That most of the fighting had been done by the more experienced ninja, how it had taken most of both Naruto and Sakura's skill and ability to simply guard the sick room of the arena. Sasuke still brooded, but he did stop glaring at his teammates afterwards.

Slightly after the invasion, when Konoha stabilized again, Suna sent a message giving an apology for their involvement in the attack and a wish to open diplomatic ties with Konoha again. They had broken off their alliance with Hidden Sound, Orochimaru had betrayed them by killing the Kazekage in order to impersonate him. Suna also respected Konoha for not killing or detaining Gaara or his siblings, they now wished to re-forge their alliance. Leaf, however, first needed their new Hokage before they could accept such offers so Jiraiya was left the task of finding her (after declining the position himself), but he needed to talk to a few people before he left.

"Hey." The Toad Sage was in the forests outside the village, meeting with someone face to face for the first time. Someone he'd hoped to meet for a long time.

Yoshi nodded, he was sitting cross legged in the earth with his eyes closed, keeping his lookout as promised to the late Sarutobi. His spirit sense was much more advanced then Naruto's he could feel the presence of people for miles around, there was no way anyone with ill intent toward the village was going to slip through his radar. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Lord Jiraiya of the Sannin." A mischievous smile formed on his lips. "Or should I call you Ero-Sennin."

With a pained look on his face, the Leaf-nin responded, "You've been talking to Naruto, huh?"

"He was enthusiastic about telling me of our time apart. Was there something you needed from me?"

"I just wanted to ask a few questions. For starters, why did you help drive away Orochimaru and why didn't you just capture him."

"That man had committed crimes which I could not ignore, tampering with the souls of the dead is not something I can overlook. I simply punished him and let him go because I am a priest, and as evil as Orochimaru is I still believe that people can change. I took away one of his arms and left a curse which will continue to take away his abilities to limit the evil which he could commit." The priest smiled at the Toad Sage. "There is a way for him to gain back his arm though, if he can learn to care for others and do good deeds then control of his body will return to him."

Jiraiya looked down with skepticism, "Do you really think he could learn to care for others?"

"I believe in change, that people can change. Knowing that negative actions will have direct negative repercussions to his power will cause him to pause when ever he acts. Knowing that someone is much stronger then him will make him pause even more, and he will never be able to hide the scar I left on his face so he won't be able hide his shame."

Like with Naruto's refusal to use the Kyuubi's chakra, Jiraiya didn't understand but he was old enough to know he wouldn't get any other explanation. "I'm going to find my old teammate and convince her to become the next Hokage. You are going to stay and keep an eye on things, right?"

"I made a deal with Sarutobi, that I would watch over this village. I was given payment and I have no intention of going back on my word."

With a nod, the perverted toad continued. "I'll be taking Naruto with me, that kid seems to be good at changing people and I'll need all the help I can get to convince Tsunade. Plus I wanted to teach him a special jutsu."

"That'll be enough to get him to tag along," Yoshi said with a smirk.

* * *

Kabuto was used to working under pressure, but never under this much. They had returned to Orochimaru's lair, yet after that things had quickly gone down hill. Their master was angry, they failed to destroy the village and the snake lord had faced personal defeat at the hands of some unknown and unaffiliated ninja. That same ninja had left Orochimaru with a useless arm and a large X-shaped scar on his face, neither could the medic nin cure. Having a paralyzed arm was bothersome, but the facial scar troubled the Snake Sannin far more then anything else.

There were no reflective surfaces in the base anymore, Orochimaru had personally begun destroying mirrors when they returned and the remaining forces had quickly followed suit in darkening every other reflective surface in the caves. The snake had quickly developed a bad habit of flying into a rage when faced with the symbol of his shame. Kabuto was the only one to face the Snake Sannin directly, he was skilled enough not to let Orochimaru kill him with a first strike and his self healing let him quickly heal from his wounds. Anyone who even glanced at the snake's scar was struck down before they knew what happened, the Sound forces had quickly trained themselves never to look at their master's face for any reason. This had worked until the Sound leader began killing people for **not** looking at his face and reminding him of the scar that he held. They'd given up having the snake speak to his followers personally after he killed 20 people for either looking at his face or refusing to look at his face, any instructions were given through Kabuto who's scrapes with death were becoming more and more frequent.

It wasn't as if they hadn't tried to cover his wounds after healing them failed, but no mater what they did the marks bled through. A basic transformation technique didn't work, not even Orochimaru's personalized disguise techniques concealed the X. Makeup didn't work either, the scar seemed to burn off any physical application applied over them. The best they could come up with was to bandage the Sannin's face, but even that enraged the snake because the bandages covered his entire face it didn't trick anyone into believing the scars weren't there.

The snake knew there was only one hope, aside from his transference technique, to heal both his arm and face. "Kabuto, we're going to find Tsunade."

**(TBC)**

* * *

**A/N:** All right, another chapter down.

**(1)-** These are the first three words which complete the Kuji-in "Nine-Syllable Seals". The Kuji-in are nine words and hand signs which help focus one's inner energy. If you wish to learn what each word means and the hand sign that accompanies them, visit Wikipedia because I'm not going to describe them here.

The Kuji-in can be focused outward to dispel evil and bad luck by making nine slashing motions (5 horizontal, 4 vertical) over a picture or symbol. For example, one might recite the nine syllables and make the slashing motions over the word "road" to ensure a safe journey. The manga Ghost Hunt uses the Kuji-in slashes as an exorcism tool, which I plan on doing later in my fan fiction.

**(2)-** This is a quote directly from the manga The Young Magician.

Hope you enjoy this chapter, we'll be getting into an original story arc next chapter. Later.


End file.
